Inuit Art Quarterly - Tarrijaq: Inuit behind the Lens

IN THIS ISSUE:

From the North Inuit Self-Representation in Film — Beyond Flaherty Honouring Early Inuit Collaborators — Documenting Inuit Nunaat Showcasing Narrative Sovereignty

Tarrijaq

Inuit behind the Lens

CONTENTS

37.1

Inuit Art Quarterly Tarrijaq

Front

Features

Back

04 From the Editors

TRIBUTE

06 Meet the Contributors

62 David Poisey

by Corinne Dunphy

08 Impact Update

66 News

5 WORKS

14

Here’s Looking at You

by Anika Nochasak

16

Tanya Lukin Linklater

by Tenille K. Campbell

18

Oviloo Tunnillie

by Luis Jacob

LAST LOOK

68 Familial Legacies on Screen

CHOICE

CHOICE

ARTISTS’ CORNER

22 Kajungiqsaut Grants: Encouraging Inuit Artists to Pursue Their Aspirations PROFILE

24 Anna Lambe

by Stefan Chua

FEATURE

28 Beyond Triage Work

by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Ezra Winton

A candid conversation takes up the ethics of self-representation and documentary.

FEATURE

34 Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

by Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker and Taqralik Partridge

A collaborative reflection on the legacy of a Flaherty film.

LEGACY

46 Filming Home

by Faye Ginsburg

Reflecting on the achievements of the first Inuit-owned film production company.

56 Film across the North

Five exciting players in the circumpolar Indigenous film space today.

ON THE COVER

An image of a young Inuk woman operating a film camera, Qeqertarsuaq, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), 1924 COURTESY LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA PHOTO ROY TASH PHOTO ILLUSTRATION IAF

LEFT

David Poisey — Rock Ptarmigan 2018 Printmaker Jolly Atagoyuk Stencil 38 × 21 cm COURTESY DAVIC GALLERY © THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Still from Twice Colonized (2023) featuring Aaju Peter COURTESY ÁNORÂK FILM PHOTO ANGELA GZOWSKI

CORRECTION

The article “Past Forward” in our Winter 2023 issue incorrectly mentions Lindsay McIntyre’s place of residence as Edmonton, AB. She lives in Vancouver, BC.

Tarrijaq

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Front

MASTHEAD PUBLISHER

EDITORIAL

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Inuit Art Quarterly is published by the Inuit Art Foundation.

Executive Director and Publisher Alysa Procida

President Heather Igloliorte Montreal, QC

Guest Editors Jason Fox Heather Igloliorte

Vice-President Reneltta Arluk Vancouver, BC

Deputy Editor (outgoing) Sue Carter

Secretary-Treasurer Julie Grenier Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC

Tauttunnguaqti Napatsi Folger

Isabelle Uyaralaaq Avingaq Choquette Montreal, QC

Established in 1987, the Inuit Art Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides support to Canada’s Inuit arts communities and is the sole national body mandated to promote Inuit artists and art within Canada and internationally.

This magazine relies on donations made to the Inuit Art Foundation, a registered charitable organization in Canada (BN #121033724RR0001) and the United States (#980140282).

The Inuit Art Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through contributions from the Reconciliation Secretariat at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Creates.

Subscriptions subscribe@inuitartfoundation.org Canada: $33/yr. Excludes GST/HST. US: $44/yr. Elsewhere: $48/yr.

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The Inuit Art Quarterly is a member of Magazines Canada.

Publication date of this issue: March 15, 2024 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252 Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED MATERIAL. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE INUIT ART FOUNDATION. PRINTED IN CANADA. DISTRIBUTED BY MAGAZINES CANADA. FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAKE OUR SUBSCRIBERS’ NAMES AVAILABLE TO COMPANIES WHOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WE FEEL MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU. TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THESE MAILINGS, PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST, ALONG WITH A COPY OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MAILING LABEL, TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE.

Editorial Supervisor Jessica MacDonald Associate Editor Melissa Kawaguchi Associate Editor Emily Lawrence Associate Editor (interim) Alison Cooley Assistant Editor Tiffany Raddi

Linda Grussani Ottawa, ON Goretti Kakuktinniq Kangiqliniq, NU Claudette Knight Toronto, ON Michael Massie Kippens, NL Ryan Rice Toronto, ON

Copy Editor Carly Brooks Fact Checker Michelle Sones Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson Art Director Maegan Fidelino Colour Gas Company Printing Interprovincial Group —

FOUNDATION Operations Manager Brittany Holliss Executive Assistant Alyson Hardwick Awards Manager Paige Connell

Marketing and Communications Manager Maggie Hinbest Social Media Coordinator Erin Robertson

Artist Portal Coordinator Alessandra Montefiore Digital Outreach Facilitator Danielle Douez Program Officer Kyle Natkusiak Aleekuk Special Projects Officer Leanne Inuarak-Dall Special Projects Officer Malayah Maloney Artist Support Officer Bronson Jacque Artist Liaison Heather Campbell

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FROM THE EDITORS

One hundred and two years ago this June, the Pathé Exchange Corporation released a film it promised would be “the most fascinating picture ever produced.” Made

by Robert J. Flaherty, an American explorer turned filmmaker, about an Inuit family struggling to survive a harsh arctic climate, Nanook of the North (1922) was met with immediate commercial success. Since then the film has been variously recognized as the first documentary film, a cornerstone of ethnographic cinema, a modern art masterpiece, a mockery, a racist fantasy, an indefensible work of Indigenous appropriation and a problematic yet valuable archive for recovering Inuit historical knowledge and Inuit strength and resilience.

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ABOVE

Kananginak Pootoogook — The First Tourist 1992 Printmaker Pitseolak Niviaqsi Lithograph 57 × 71 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST

OPPOSITE

Niap — Qaumaniq 2022 Embroidery thread and inkjet print 40.6 × 53.3 cm COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST

Spring 2024

FROM THE EDITORS

their critical 2015 conversation on the falsified and appropriative racist film of the North (2015), emphasizing the dire need for ongoing and supported Inuit self-representation. Musing over just a few of the estimated 1,500 photographs that Flaherty took between 1910 and 1921 while he was on research and production trips to Nunavik, writers and curators Taqralik Partridge and Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker chart both the locations, people and activities that some of the images captured and the ways these memories are still alive today, anticipating these images’ return to Inuit custodianship. Faye Ginsburg also contributes a compelling profile of Isuma’s efforts to bring Inuit storytelling into the new millennium, sharing it in Cannes, Venice and Kassel along the way.

From cover to cover, Tarrijaq is also packed with Inuit media artists and filmmakers pushing the boundaries of filmmaking and screen-based media today. In “Film across the North,” we highlight some of the key players in the world of Inuit-led film and television who have been leading the way in Indigenizing and decolonizing the media landscape, while in emerging filmmaker Anika Nochasak’s cheekily-titled “Here’s Looking at You,” she chooses five examples of how Inuit artists also document their lives in painting, drawing and sculpture.

Tarrijaq points to a rich past and fruitful future in Inuit media practices, the growing significance of networks of creative alliances around the circumpolar world and the important debates about Inuit cultural sovereignty that emerged in Nanook of the North’s wake.

Over a century after Nanook of the North’s initial release, we take stock of the state of circumpolar filmmaking now, reflecting back on the dramatic transformation of Inuit as the subjects of outsiders’ documentary practices to the creators of their own screen-based content, or tarrijaq. Far from the romanticized depiction in Nanook and the decades of films made about the North that followed in its wake, Inuit have taken control of their own representation by foregrounding Inuit and their experiences, concerns and perspectives—through language, community, land-based knowledge and even that distinctly Inuk sense of humour—on screen.

In publishing this issue, Tarrijaq, we are inspired by recent generations of Inuit advocacy and activism both on camera and behind it: Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ONu, LLD, carving sculptures to buy his first camera so he could create the series Nunavut: Our Land (1995) to combat the rapid influx of western television in the 1990s; Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, MSC, working tirelessly on a documentary for over a decade in order to shine a light on the destruction that western media’s uninformed and racist anti-sealing campaign wrought on Inuit hunters; Tanya Tagaq’s, CM, passionate and powerful response to Flaherty in her 2012– 2016 Canadian and international tour of Tanya Tagaq in Concert with Nanook of the North, created with composer Derek Charke, percussionist Jean Martin and violinist Jesse Zubot.

While Nanook continues to receive popular and scholarly attention from all around the globe, this special issue highlights critical Inuit perspectives that should be prioritized in discussions on the legacy of the film and centres Inuit voices leading exciting changes in documentary filmmaking across Inuit Nunaat. For example, Arnaquq-Baril and film scholar Ezra Winton revisit

Tarrijaq

Jason Fox and Heather Igloliorte Guest Editors

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Front

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

A behind-the-scenes look at the issue The IAQ asked the contributors for Tarrijaq to share with readers any surprises, inspirations or anecdotes about their work in this issue. Here is what they said:

FAYE GINSBURG FILMING HOME PAGE 46

“I am deeply grateful to Heather Igloliorte and Jason Fox for inviting me to contribute to this issue and for their editorial suggestions, along with those of Jessica MacDonald. My gratitude goes to Zacharias Kunuk and Norm Cohn of Isuma for generously taking the time to speak and write to me about their work over the last thirty years.”

LUIS JACOB CHOICE: OVILOO TUNNILLIE PAGE 18

“Oviloo Tunnillie is an art hero, and it’s an honour for me to write about her. Next to my bed, I have a small sculpture that she made, which depicts a hand holding a roll of paper. It’s one of the first things I see upon waking each day. Tunnillee’s hand is furled like a fist, giving me energy and strength.”

Writing this piece was really exciting because it’s not that often I’m able to write about Inuit art. Getting the chance to write about different Inuit artists and their stories was really touching. I got to explore and research their practices as well, which really inspired me.”

ANIKA NOCHASAK 5 WORKS PAGE 14

Check out this issue’s artists at inuitartfoundation.org/profiles Inuit Art Quarterly

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MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

ALETHEA ARNAQUQ-BARIL BEYOND TRIAGE WORK PAGE 28

Thinking about how Inuit are represented on screen is something [I] cannot help doing, and Ezra is especially fun to talk about it with.

I’m really proud of the stage Inuit are at in this industry, and am grateful for the chance to share this mental snapshot of where we are, with the long view in mind. I cannot wait to see who rises up next and to watch and enjoy their work!”

It is always a sheer delight to have the fortune to talk with the brilliant Alethea Arnaquq-Baril about a shared favourite subject: the politics and ethics of film—while of course not excluding adventures in creativity. Alethea’s take on some of the most vexing, contested issues concerning representation are always fierce, fair and unmatched.”

EZRA WINTON BEYOND TRIAGE WORK PAGE 28

This issue’s contributor illustrations are by iima Arngaq iima Arngaq is a Black Inuk graphic artist from Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik, QC. She works with oil paint and a variety of drawing mediums to create imaginative characters that represent Black and Indigenous mixed identities. Arngaq currently lives in Montreal, QC, and is enrolled in Dawson College’s Studio Arts program.

Visit her IAQ profile at inuitartfoundation.org/iima-Arngaq Tarrijaq

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Front

THANK YOU

Donors make all the difference The Ikajuqtiit Circle changes lives all year long Members of the Ikajuqtiit Circle—those who help—are caring donors who protect and nurture the Inuit art community.

As Ikajuqtiit Circle members, you provide opportunities for artists to explore their practices, learn new skills and grow. You raise global awareness and appreciation of Inuit art. The generous Ikajuqtiit Circle members listed on these pages make all this and more possible. Thank you!

Gifts listed here were made between December 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.

Lipa Pitsiulak — Evening Games of Spring 1979 Printmaker Thomasie Alikatuktuk Stencil 30.5 × 93 cm COURTESY WAG-QAUMAJUQ AND THE GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT PHOTO LIANED MARCOLETA © THE ARTIST

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THANK YOU

IAF Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle The Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle is a special group of donors who give monthly to sustain the IAF and create opportunities for artists.

Amy Adams Lea Algar-Moscoe Mary Anglim Andrea Arnold Stephen Baker Barbara and Vincent Barresi Maddie Beaulieu Molly Blyth Robbin Bond Bill Bradley Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Tobi Bruce Sue Carter Kay Cookie Cartwright Dr. Anne Croy Gordon Davidson Catherine Dean Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Paulette Dennis Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Kelly Dickinson Hal Dietz Patricia and Donald Dodds Tracey Doherty Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Mathieu Doucette Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Engelstad Family F. Enright Lynn Feasey Patricia Feheley Dana Forsman

Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Evan and Dustin Maydaniuk Roxanne McCaig Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Cathy Moser and Jeff Itzkow Paul Newman and Tomokazu Nakamura Rachel O’Neill Dawn Owen Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce André Picard Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg John and Joyce Price David Pride Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart David and Robin Procida Maximilien Raab Leslie Reid Eva Riis-Culver Margerit Roger Greg Rogers and Blandina Makkik, in honour of Inuit artists and the magazine that educates us Louise Rolingher Sheilah Rowe Jonathan Beth and Rex Rutchik Kassie Ruth Carol-Ann Ryan and Dr. Matthew Follwell Michael Ryan

Maxime Fortin Alison Freebairn Lisa Frenette Jennifer Fryer Anik Glaude Deborah D. Gordon Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Linda Grussani Barbara Hale Andrea Hamilton Sari Hannila, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Inuit survivors, and the artists who tell Inuit stories. ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Jackie Hatherly-Martin and Keith Martin Dianne Hayman Bryan Hellwig Robert Hurst Aphantasia Indigo Amy Jenkins Rozanne Junker Dr. Claudette Knight M. A. Konantz Dr. Simon E. Lappi Nancy and Terry Lee Rebecca Lee Jacqueline Littlewood Mike and Cindy MacMillan Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf

Paula Santrach Bruno Savoie Leslie Saxon West Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Paul J. Skahan Michelle E. Smith Yu Song Michael and Melanie Southern Joyce and Fred Sparling Charmaine Spencer David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule Suncor Energy Jacek Szulc Jay and Deborah Thomson Emilie Tremblay Gail Vanstone Rosalie Walls and Kathy Simas Robert and Brenda Watson Nicholas Wattson Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Peggy Weller Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Amanda Whitney Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Craig Wilbanks and Monty Kehl Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith and seven anonymous donors

Tunisiniq Nunarjjuaq Piuniqsauqumut Circle The Tunisiniq Nunarjjuaq Piuniqsauqumut Circle is a special group of donors who have included a legacy gift to the IAF in their will. In doing so they will leave a meaningful legacy that supports Inuit artists for generations to come.

Tarrijaq

Eleanor R. Erikson Judith Gavin Bryan Hellwig Warren Howard Kathleen Lippa Kara Pearce

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Richard Sourkes Scott B. White Craig Wilbanks and Monty Kehl Bea Zizlavsky and two anonymous donors

Front

THANK YOU

IAF Tunisijut Circle

Monthly supporter Legacy supporter Multi-year pledge supporter Endowment supporter

With annual gifts of $1,000 or more, this incredibly dedicated group provides critical support to connect artists with opportunities and make an extraordinary impact.

$100,000+ RBC Foundation $50,000–$74,999 The Flanagan Foundation $10,000–$24,999 Adventure Canada Erik Haites Joe Miller $5,000–$9,999 Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Gabrielle Campbell Eleanor R. Erikson Paul and Carole Pizzolante $2,500–$4,999 Clench House Foundation Patricia and Donald Dodds Janice Gonsalves Linda Grussani Rawlson King David and Liz Macdonald MakeWay Foundation Barbara Legowski and Lewis Auerbach Joram Piatigorsky Sanford Riley Kassie Ruth The Herb and Cece Schreiber Foundation Hunter Thompson Ann and Wayne Tompkins Craig Wilbanks and Monty Kehl $1,000–$2,499 Kristiina and Timmun Alariaq, Huit Huit Tours Ltd. Blair and Tara Assaly Anne and Don Badke Philanthropic Fund Barbara and Vincent Barresi Anne Borchardt, in memory of Claus Borchardt Claus Borchardt Elise Brais Lisa-Margaret Stevenson Bryan

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Margaret S. Bursaw, in memory of John Maounis Yvonne Condell Emily Deming Hal Dietz Marian Dodds, in memory of Dedie Dodds Arthur Drache, CM , KC and Judy Young Drache Jon and Valerie Eliassen Fath Group/O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. Patricia Feheley Alain Fournier Jennifer Fryer Goring Family Foundation Sari Hannila, in honour of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Inuit survivors, and the artists who tell Inuit stories. ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ Carol Heppenstall Dr. Simon E. Lappi Hesty Leibtag Kathleen Lippa Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Susan Marrier Kathryn C. Minard, ISA CAPP Lisa Niedenthal Jocelyn Piirainen Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg John and Joyce Price Shirley Richardson Leslie Roden-Foreman Paula Santrach Frances Scheidel Caroline Shaw Barbara Turner Gail Vanstone Cathy Wilkes, in memory of David Wilkes Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith Norman Zepp and Judith Varga and two anonymous donors (1 )

Illannarijaujut Tunngavinngmit $500–$999 Jean Blane Katharine Bocking Gary Boratto Tobi Bruce Gordon Davidson James Delaney, in memory of Gerald Nicholas Tighe Nathalie Ducamp Engelstad Family Maxime Fortin Jesse Goodman Dianne Hayman Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Bryan Hellwig Ingo Hessel Mark Hirschman Mr. Roger and Mrs. Margaret Horton Smaro Kamboureli Nancy Keppelman and Michael Smerza Lori Labatt Christie MacInnes Nagesh Mahanthappa and Valentine Talland Patricia McKeown Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Charles Moss and Dee Fenner Allan Newell Nadine Nickner and Harald Finkler, in memory of Tim Pitsiulak Donna and Hal Olsen Martin Pâquet Don Pether André Picard Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Leslie Reid Bruce Roberts Kerstin Roger Margerit Roger

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Susan Rowley David Runkle Joseph Salkowitz, DMD Celine Saucier Michael and Melanie Southern David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule Suncor Energy Michel Thabet Mark David Turner Westchester Community Foundation Bell-Jacoby Family Fund Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Mark and Margie Zivin Bea Zizlavsky and six anonymous donors (4 , 1 , 4 , 1 ) $250–$499 Lea Algar-Moscoe Wallace Altes Catherine Badke Devony Baugh Susan Baum and Robert Ludwig Marc Bendick Catherine Birt Jean Blane Herbert Braun John Butcher Sue Carter Raymond Currie and Charlene Thacker Currie Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Kelly Dickinson Tracey Doherty Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Lisa Frenette Iet Frumau Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Peter and Deirdre Gardner Judith Gavin Deborah D. Gordon Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Andrea Hamilton

Spring 2024

THANK YOU

Jackie Hatherly-Martin and Keith Martin Laurie Herd Debby and Brian Hirsch Joanne Hommik Robert Hurst Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq Lynn Jackson Sharon Jorgens Melinda Josie Anne Kearns Dr. Claudette Knight Jo-Ann Kolmes Mary Kostman Gordon Leggett Ellen Lehman and Charles Kennel Val Lem Ann Lesk Jacqueline Littlewood Patricia Logrippo Dr. Neil and Elaine Margolis Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Keith Martin Evan and Dustin Maydaniuk The Honourable Paul Mayer Lynne McCarthy and Claude Davis Cathy Moser and Jeff Itzkow Quirien Muijlwijk Scott Mullin Paul Newman and Tomokazu Nakamura Michael and Brenda Noone Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce Kate Permut Barry Pottle Mickey Ranalli Frank Reid and Amparo Maya Dr. Timothy W. Reinig Eva Riis-Culver Brian Rogers, in memory of Reissa Gibbs Greg Rogers and Blandina Makkik, in honour of Inuit artists and the magazine that educates us Sheilah Rowe Jonathan Beth and Rex Rutchik Carol-Ann Ryan and Dr. Matthew Follwell Michael Ryan Wally Sapach Leslie Saxon West

Tarrijaq

Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Dr. Sara L. Diamond Mathieu Doucette Judith Dowler Tim Dueck François Dumaine Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Stephanie Ellis F. Enright Lynne and John Eramo Andy Fallas Lynn Feasey David and Lauren Feiglin Dana Forsman Claire Foussard Alison Freebairn Donna Fremont Ed Friedman Paula Frisch JoAnne and Richard Fuerst Anik Glaude Gold Fund (2023) at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Karen Gorsline Ron Grapentine Ronald and Yvonne Grapentine Barbara Hale John Hanjian and Carmen Nowak Tekla Harms Cary Hart Sheila Hart, in honor of the many Inuit artists who have enriched my life through their work Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Tatiana Harvey Frederick Hooper Jane Horner Warren Howard Dr. Jacqueline Hynes Aphantasia Indigo Jeannette Jackson-Thompson, MSPH , PHD Amy Jenkins Anne and John Jones The Josie Family Rozanne Junker Jennipher Kean, in honour of Elizabeth O’Grady M. A. Konantz Lawrence and Joyce Lacroix Kathryn Lagrandeur Le Grand Élan

Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Karl-Werner Schulte Charmaine Spencer Harriet Stairs George and Jacqueline Szabo Jay and Deborah Thomson Emilie Tremblay Peter R. Van Brunt Merri Lea Van Dyke Louise and James Vesper Nicholas Wattson Peggy Weller Peter and Mary Wilson and three anonymous donors (1 , 1 , 1 ) $100–$249 James and Marjorie Abel, in honour of Xanthipi Abel Amy Adams Patricia Allen Mary Anglim Diana Antoon Frank P. Araujo, for art, for the Inuit cultures and the bountiful interplay of the two Andrea Arnold ART+PUBLIC UnLtd Barbara Aylett Stephen Baker H. Mary Balint Elizabeth Ball Maddie Beaulieu Heather Muir Beecroft Brian Belchamber Christie and Jurg Bieri Molly Blyth Robbin Bond Margaret Brill-Edwards Jennifer Brown Dorothy Caldwell and William Woods Jim and Mary F. Campbell Kay Cookie Cartwright Francoise Chagnon David Cherepacha Shelley Chochinov Carol Cole Catherine Cole Charles and Arline Crockford Dr. Anne Croy Ruby Cruz Fred Cutler Adelle Daviau, in memory of Sadie Angelique Daviau Philip Davis Paulette Dennis

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Nancy and Terry Lee Rebecca Lee Nora Little, in honour of John A. and Irene Little, John F. Little and Mary Jo Little Lois Loewen Daryl Logan Denis Longchamps Dr. Marie Loyer Peter Lyman Mike and Cindy MacMillan Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Kathy Mallett Jure Manfreda Roxanne McCaig Alison and Bruce McDonald John A. McKendry Colette Meehan Alessandra Montefiore Gary Nelson Peter Noteboom Suzanne O’Hara Rachel O’Neill Louisa O’Reilly Marina Oeler Dawn Owen Bonnie Park PayPal Giving Fund Canada Felicity and Richard Pope Steve Potocny David Pride David and Robin Procida Maximilien Raab Elizabeth Robinson Janet Robinson Anita L. Romaniuk Gabriel J. Rosenberg Lise Rousson-Morneau and Yves Morneau Lynne B. Sagalyn Genevieve Sartor Bruno Savoie Allan Seiersen Divya Shah Paul J. Skahan Michelle E. Smith Richard Sourkes Joyce and Fred Sparling Elizabeth Steinbrueck P. Stevens Jennifer Stoots Mark Swartz, in honour of Dr. and Mrs. MJ Swartz and Family Jacek Szulc Charles Tator

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THANK YOU

Karen Thorne-Stone Diana Trafford Joan R. Truckenbrod Anne Vagi Rosalie Walls and Kathy Simas James and Karen Walton Robert and Brenda Watson Lowell Waxman John Weber Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Scott B. White Amanda Whitney Darlene Coward Wight Judy Willson Robert Wolf and 10 anonymous donors (1 , 3 , 2 ) Up to $99 Annie Amaruq Mitch Birken Bill Bradley Nancy L. Brennan Cedric Brodin Mark Cheetham Michelle Coyne

Dennis Crowley Laetitia Dandavino-Tardif Anna De Aguayo Catherine Dean Wilfrid Denis Simone Dionne-Rancourt Amy Ede Yasemin Eroglu Jan Fergus Chun Fong Jessie Fortier-Ningiuruvik Ronald and Anne Foster Joana Fraga Bill and Sarah Gibbons Susan Godin Ariel Godwin Claire Gold Philip Goldring Peggy Gorman Nelson Graburn, in honour of Aisaki Pallayat Sallumiut Kristine Greenaway Susan C. Griswold Mark Gustafson Kathryn Hanna Mary Hanson Kathryn Heller-McRoberts Rick Hiebert Rosemary Hilton Brittany Holliss TJ Holmes

Albert and Femmeke Holthuis Karen and David Hood Shari Huhndorf Lily Jackson, in honour of Lorna Jackson Celina Jeffery Janique Johnson-Lafleur David Kerr Elizabeth Kocmur William Lee Fae Marie Anne Logie Marion Lord Laura Macdonald Geraldine and Peter Marshall Carola Marte Peter Allan McKitrick Mary McLaren, in memory of Ian and Bernice McLaren Sean McMahon Stanley Middlestadt Melanie Milanich The Honourable Wilfred P. Moore David Muir Peter Murphy Jennifer Nadeau Lou Nelson Keitrah Oakley Lauriane Ouellet Douglas Palmerton Annie Paquin

Naomi Pauls Matt Pierce Ron and Sigrid Rhodes Louise Rolingher Janet Savard Kathryn Scott Patricia Scott Jeffrey Seidman David and Lesley Serkoak S. Shadick-Taylor sk Elizabeth C. Smeloff Fiona Snow Yu Song Janet L. Sponagle P. Colleen Suche Matt Traversy Elizabeth Vadas Mary and George Varley Jon L. Vickery, MD Charles Voirin Grace Voisey Clark Milly Walker Nancy Walkling, in memory of Frank O. Walkling Garnet Ward Christopher and Barbara Wood And ten anonymous donors (2 , 3 , 1 , 2 )

You can make the difference There are more than 13,000 Inuit artists working in Canada today. Many face barriers to making and showcasing their work, but all deserve the same opportunities other artists have for their voices to be heard and their work to be seen.

By giving to the IAF, you help artists working across Inuit Nunangat and beyond connect to opportunities, have platforms for their work to be seen and build their careers.

Celebrate the art you love and make a difference by donating today.

To learn more about how to support artists, please contact us at 647-498-7717 ext. 104, visit us online at inuitartfoundation.org/ways-to-give or simply scan the QR code to the left.

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THANK YOU

5 WORKS

Here’s Looking at You

by Anika Nochasak Gaze is a powerful thing, rendering objects in layers of whimsy, irony and gender or stripping them back to basic, abstracted underpinnings. Under an artist’s eye the world is transmogrified into an artwork, forever shaped and stamped by the author’s point of view.

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Megan Kyak-Monteith

Wide Awake with the Midnight Sun (2021) Nunavummiut artist Megan Kyak-Monteith’s acrylic painting Wide Awake in the Midnight Sun features a woman peering out her window to the sea. By illustrating the woman’s viewpoint, the artist makes me wonder what she is focusing on. Is it the vehicles in her yard, the children playing on ice, the idyllic

scene of a sunset, or something else entirely? Employing an almost fisheye lens view, we get a larger perspective of the scene, broadening our curiosity about the tableau. Kyak-Monteith’s powerful painting explores the female gaze, while her artistry beautifully constructs scenes of the North.

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Jessie Oonark

I See Caribou (1972) A revered artist from Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, Jessie Oonark, OC, RCA (1906–1985) was a multifaceted textile artist and illustrator.

Her I See Caribou, made from stonecut and stencil, features a person throwing their hands up in exclamation, with vibrant green and red permeating the image. Oonark only fully represents the person, using strong lines and pared back details to present the rest of the scene as something almost abstract.

I find a spiritual element in the piece—the figures appearing out of the person’s head and hands remind me of Inuit traditional stories. In capturing just the essentials of a scene here, Oonark demonstrates her ability to show only what’s necessary.

ABOVE (LEFT)

Megan Kyak-Monteith — Wide Awake in the Midnight Sun 2021 Acrylic 125.7 × 179.1 cm © THE ARTIST

ABOVE (RIGHT)

Jessie Oonark — I See Caribou 1972 Printmaker Paul Toolooktook Stonecut and stencil 30.5 × 34.9 cm

OPPOSITE (TOP LEFT)

OPPOSITE (BOTTOM)

OPPOSITE (TOP RIGHT)

Chantal Jung — Loved an Image 2023 Digital collage

Qavavau Manumie — Wildlife Documentary 2006–07 Ink, graphite and coloured pencil 50.8 × 66 cm

David Ruben Piqtoukun — The Birth of Knowledge 1996 Apple IIc monitor, stone and antler 55.9 × 106.7 × 25.4 cm

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY MADRONA GALLERY © THE ARTIST

COURTESY WADDINGTON’S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO © THE ARTIST

COURTESY IAF © THE ARTIST

COURTESY WADDINGTON’S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO © THE ARTIST

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Chantal Jung

Loved an Image (2023) Chantal Jung’s Loved an Image plays on how social media and Inuit culture coalesce. I’m sure you have all gotten giddy when someone you know likes your Instagram or Facebook post, and Jung’s image represents that feeling. Depicting an arctic fox photographed by an Inuk with traditional tattoos, blue rays filled with hearts beam above the display of the cell phone. It’s a play on how “loving” or “liking” an image online can be taken in its literal form. As someone who is from Nunatsiavut but lives in the South, I too have metaphorical heart beams coming out of my phone when I see pictures of back home.

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David Ruben Piqtoukun

The Birth of Knowledge (1996) David Ruben Piqtoukun’s visually striking sculpture The Birth of Knowledge illustrates the duality of Western technology and Inuit ways of living by equipping an Apple computer with two antlers and a stone carving of a face. While we may associate technology with the

South, Inuit have embraced technological advances and they are an integral part of younger generations’ lives. Illustrating Piqtoukun’s innovative craftsmanship, this piece integrates the perspective of Western technology with Inuit artistic practices of carving and artisanship.

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Qavavau Manumie

Wildlife Documentary (2006–07) This drawing by Qavavau Manumie examines the relationship between two animals—the polar bear and the fox—depicting the fox filming the polar bear, an alternative perspective presenting gaze as something between animals. While we are used to human’s perspective of wildlife, in Wildlife Documentary Manumie illustrates that animals can have their own point of view, replacing the human behind the camera with a fox. Visually interesting and almost humorous, here Manumie invites us to engage in alternative ways of looking.

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CHOICE

Tanya Lukin Linklater Slay All Day

by Tenille K. Campbell

Inuit Art Quarterly

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CHOICE

At one point, she swirls and curves across the wooden floor, black hair flowing, and I am reminded of how the water runs underneath the deep freeze of a winter’s ice— giver of both life and death, depending on how much respect you give it.

core clenched, back straight, unshakeable; her strength allows her body to weave story. The two screens show two different actions—at times, one will move and the other one doesn’t. The left screen goes blank and we watch the remaining screen. Both screens will come on again. Lukin Linklater presents the dances, on either screen, moving not in unison but in relationship with one another. Gobert mimics the shifting ice—movements of survival in the Arctic. At one point, she swirls and curves across the wooden floor, black hair flowing, and I am reminded of how the water runs underneath the deep freeze of a winter’s ice—giver of both life and death, depending on how much respect you give it.

The video shows us two stories in performance, sometimes in response to one another, sometimes flickering in and out, allowing our eyes to rest on one dance interpretation. Lukin Linklater reminds us that there are two sides to every story, and that we don’t always have access to the full account. That the way we watch this interpretation may be our way of remembering story— in segments, picking out what is relevant to us, forgetting what is not.

The video ends in silence and in darkness. For 30 seconds we sit with the darkness of the screen. Remembering the story we were shown. I hold my breath again. I am waiting for something, but I don’t know what, and it leaves me somewhat vulnerable. I am grateful for the chance to have walked into the unknown and come out with new ways of looking at the world, and knowledge shared.

There is a certain grace in confronting the unknown, in being introduced to new thoughts and concepts. The unknown keeps us curious, inspired, seeking. I kept this in mind while watching Tanya Lukin Linklater’s video Slay All Day (2016), a collaboration between Lukin Linklater’s choreography, Ceinwen Gobert’s partially improvised performance and Stephanie Fehr’s cinematography.

Lukin Linklater is a Sugpiaq artist-choreographer from southwest Alaska and her rich body of work often involves histories and relationships with land and community. Slay All Day proved to be a pathway for new knowledge and old history, a reminder of how little I know and how much I can still learn.

The choreography in Slay All Day was inspired both by the movements of Inuit athletes and the land itself in Robert J. Flaherty’s film Nanook of the North (1922)—the cracking of ice, freezing currents, unrelenting snowfall, the stillness. Knowing what inspired Lukin Linklater has informed my understanding of her piece, allowing me the space to critically look at this representation of Inuit life, art and story, and the power one has when reclaiming such narratives, as she does here.

The 4-minute-and-16-second silent video opens on a split screen: we are first introduced to the dancer, Gobert, in two poses, a contrast in colour and position. On the left, she is in a white bandeau and a tulle skirt, and on the right, a dancer’s leotard in black, both in the same bare, white room. She poses for eight seconds, and I find myself holding my breath with her. In her white bandeau, she is reposed gracefully on the floor, weight resting on her hip, leaning on her arm, with one hand clenched into a fist, knuckles to the ground. In her black leotard, she is in plank position, incredibly still.

Gobert moves through Lukin Linklater’s choreography, making the painful seem painless. She walks on the front of her feet, toes curled under just so. She holds herself rigid in silence,

— Tenille K. Campbell is a Dene/Métis author and photographer from English River First Nation. She completed her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and is enrolled in her PhD at the University of Saskatchewan. She is also the artist behind sweetmoon photography and the co-creator of the blog tea&bannock. She currently resides in Saskatoon, SK.

Tanya Lukin Linklater — Slay All Day (stills) 2016 Single-channel HD video 4 min 16 sec COURTESY CATRIONA JEFFRIES © THE ARTIST

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CHOICE

Oviloo Tunnillie Woman Holding Drawing

by Luis Jacob

Oviloo Tunnillie — Woman Holding Drawing 2006 Stone 56.5 × 29 × 13.5 cm COURTESY ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO © THE ARTIST

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CHOICE

Tunnillie’s sculptural work often adopts strategies that endow them with a sly self-awareness—a glint in the eye, so to speak, which underscores and reflects the viewer’s own act of attention before the artwork.

The sculpture by Oviloo Tunnillie, RCA (1949–2014) titled Woman Holding Drawing (2006) depicts a woman with long hair wearing an ankle-length dress. She stands, bent slightly forward, holding a drawing for the viewer to see. Her drawing depicts an iglu, a dog and a shining sun. Is she recalling memories of the past? Her face has a gently glowing smile. Delightfully, like in a play of mirrors, Woman Holding Drawing is an artwork that depicts the act of showing an artwork. It presents self-presence as a work of art, explicitly acknowledging the viewer through a demonstrative gesture. This connection is made visible, magnetic and energized.

What strikes me about Tunnillie’s earlier work is her poignant sense of autobiographical detail. Several of her best-known sculptures depict childhood memories of illness and hospitalization for tuberculosis, for which the artist received treatment two different times for prolonged periods as a child. Others render inner experiences, such as sorrow or isolation, vividly carved in stone. Then, something else ensues: a sly, slow-burning self-referentiality that energizes her work’s relationship with me, its viewer. This is the gesture that exists in Woman Holding Drawing.

Tunnillie’s sculptural work often adopts strategies which endow them with this self-awareness—a glint in the eye, so to speak, which underscores and reflects the viewer’s own act of attention on the artwork. This makes Tunnillie’s work remarkably expansive, perhaps alluding to the local artistic tradition in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. In my mind, Tunnillie’s work harkens to the graphics made by Kinngait-based artists like Pitseolak Ashoona, CM, RCA (c. 1904–1983), Napachie

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Pootoogook (1938–2002) and Shuvinai Ashoona, RCA. Across generations, these artists self-referentially depicted within their own drawings the process and the products of the act of drawing. This constitutes a kind of self-portrait, but one that represents a community of artists—demonstrating a milieu rather than an isolated individual.

I am touched by the expansiveness that, like the figure’s own smile, glows and emanates from the stone. Woman Holding Drawing is a testament to an effort to overcome solitude. It is the expansiveness of this sculpture that stands as a counterpoint to Tunnillie’s work that depicts sorrow or deep isolation.

Acknowledging the viewer, relating the present to memories of previous ways of life, and connecting her autobiographical trajectory with that of local artists of previous generations—these elements serve to relink what might have otherwise stood alone. It is these features that make Woman Holding Drawing such a striking, delightful and emotionally moving work.

— Luis Jacob is a Peruvian-born artist now based in Toronto, ON. Since participating in documenta12 in 2007, his work has been shown in exhibitions across the world including Museum der Moderne Salzburg, and the Toronto Biennial of Art (2019); La Biennale de Montréal (2016); Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York (2015); Taipei Biennial (2012); Generali Foundation, Vienna (2011); Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); and the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2008).

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©Victoria Polsoni

©Kristian Bogner

Inuit cultural educator Myna Ishulutak and Charlotte Edmunds ©Dennis Minty

©Martin Lipman

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ARTISTS’ CORNER

Kajungiqsaut Grants: Encouraging Inuit Artists to Pursue Their Aspirations The groundbreaking initiative co-developed by the Inuit Art Foundation (IAF) and the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) that funds Inuit working in the arts. $500 to $15,000. The first of its kind specifically created for Inuit working in all disciplines across all regions of Canada, these grants support artists at any stage in their careers.

Since launching in 2023, Kajungiqsaut Grants have helped a rapidly growing number of Inuit creatives achieve their goals.

Here, three past recipients share how Kajungiqsaut Grants helped them take their art to the next level.

Artistic innovation is critical to an artist’s practice—to plan a new project or fulfill a vision, artists need to take bold risks and have the freedom to think and experiment. Time, space and resources are crucial to pursuing these ambitions, which is why the IAF has partnered with the CCA to develop Kajungiqsaut Grants: a co-developed and co-delivered tri-stream granting initiative offering support ranging from

Sutaarutit (To Gain Material)

Purchasing tools and materials can be the first challenge artists face.

By providing grants of $500 and $1,000, the Sutaarutit stream is dedicated to helping artists with the fundamental costs required to pursue their projects.

Candace Bristow

1

“Through my project proposal I was able to obtain funding which helped me purchase materials such as furs and hides to create more handmade items and advertise my small business within the Northwest Territories, Canada and even the US. Having access to an Inuit-specific art grant makes me feel grateful and supported with my cultural activity.” 1

NOTES

ABOVE

OPPOSITE (TOP)

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Candace Bristow — Nattiq nahaq 2023 Sealskin and beaver fur

Yvonne Moorhouse — Sisters 2023 Silver sheet and silver wire Approximately 1.7 cm in diameter

Ujarak Appadoo — ᐊᑕᐅᓯᐅᑎᑦᓯᓂᖅ (Oneness) 2023 Duffle wool, melton wool, boiled wool, embroidery thread and acrylic 55.8 × 55.8 cm

© THE ARTIST

© THE ARTIST

© THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

OPPOSITE (BOTTOM)

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ARTISTS’ CORNER

Iniqarvik (To Have Space)

Artists need room to breathe, time to think and space to experiment in order to fulfill their artistic visions. The Iniqarvik stream is geared toward funding small-scale project proposals; these grants of $3,500 are for artists aiming to finish current projects or plan new ones.

Yvonne Moorhouse

Turaagaq (Vision)

Ujarak Appadoo

“This grant truly helped encourage my learning and creating, while removing the stress and pressure of finances and production deadlines.

I had been working on printmaking and very basic silver pieces at the time of the proposal submission and was envisioning furthering my knowledge and skills by bringing these two art forms together in new and exciting ways. With the grant money, I was able to take an intensive silversmithing course that taught me wonderful ways of creating while helping me build my own home studio with the correct tools. One of my recent silver pieces was then included in -miut, an exhibition at the Mitchell Art Gallery in Edmonton, AB.”

Bringing a large-scale project to fruition—like creating a body of work for an exhibition or making a film—is incredibly rewarding for artists and can lead to further opportunities. The Turaagaq stream provides grants of $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000 to help bring these creative visions to life.

“This grant allowed me to build on the skills I had and focus on making a few art pieces to showcase—one piece was part of a show at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, MB. I participated in a week-long artist residency at Forêt Curieux just outside of Montreal, QC, where I held two sewing workshops and taught different stitches and a bit about the history of wallhanging-making from the Arviat, NU, area. I also worked on three different wallhangings to showcase at the Festival des Arts Entrelacés in Montreal with two other artists. As a result, I have received two other wallhanging-making opportunities, which I’m very happy about.”

The IAF is proud to support Inuit creatives through Kajungiqsaut and strongly encourages applicants from any stage in their artistic careers to apply!

Visit inuitartfoundation.org/artist-programs/kajungiqsaut-grants to learn more.

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PROFILE

Anna Lambe

by Stefan Chua

Anna Lambe’s Instagram bio is a thinly veiled threat: “The only thing you’re gonna get here is mugged.” Fans of the actor might wonder—was this a warning issued by Spring, the resilient Inuk teen from Kugluktuk, NU, who Lambe played as her breakout role in the award-winning film based on a true story, The Grizzlies (2018)? Or could it be a quip delivered from Lambe’s star turn as Sarah, the precocious Indigenous high schooler and activist from CBC’s Trickster (2020), who commands your attention on screen like a megaphone? Born in Iqaluit, NU, Lambe spends most of her time now in Ottawa, ON, where she juggles her acting career while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Development and Globalization. “My education plays into the bigger impact that I hope to have with my career,” she says.1 “I got into film because I felt [that it] could be a platform for [Indigenous] empowerment.”

Inuit Art Quarterly

Trickster’s Sarah, much like Lambe, is a headstrong advocate for Indigenous rights. In one episode, she rallies a band of students in an anti-pipeline demonstration.

Reflecting on her time playing the roles of Spring and Sarah, Lambe says, “I’ve learned a lot about myself through these characters. [I] had so much fire in me in terms of wanting to advocate for my community. [Through] Trickster and playing Sarah, [I could translate] my passion for advocacy through the issues that Sarah was passionate about.”

While acting, community has been integral for Lambe, noting that “Native film and television is so small . . . [yet] that’s where I’ve truly found peers and people like me.”

This support was particularly important after her audition for The Grizzlies, which she describes as a whirlwind, whisking her from drama classes to silver screens. Lambe admits that, “After [The Grizzlies] I didn’t think I was going to act again.

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PROFILE

[. . .] There wasn’t as visible a group of Indigenous talent at the time, even just 5–10 years ago, who could show us that there was a permanent place for Indigenous stories in mainstream film and TV.” But new opportunities keep roping her back in, as do her “industry aunties” and lasting friendships that keep her grounded.

As Lambe reflects on past roles, she notes her readiness to embrace new ones. “I would love to do some that aren’t necessarily related to colonial trauma or intergenerational trauma,” she says. “Because that’s something that I already have to deal with personally, and it always comes out [because] that’s a foundational part of who I am.” In 2023 Lambe completed work on her own short film, Qauppat, as writer, director, producer and actor, and so far in 2024 she has appeared in the latest season of HBO’s True Detective, which premiered in January. But her biggest project is yet to come: an untitled Arctic comedy series co-produced by CBC, Netflix and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network where Lambe stars as Siaja, a young Inuk mother building a new life for herself and her daughter in a small town in the North. Filmed on location in Lambe’s hometown of Iqaluit, the production marks the first-ever big-budget Inuit comedy TV series, set to begin filming in the spring of 2024.

As for the quote in Lambe’s Instagram bio?

Perhaps it manifested her forthcoming foray into comedy. She explains that it’s from Smoke Signals, the 1998 coming-of-age film acclaimed as the first Indigenous-written, directed and produced feature-length production. “[It’s] one of my favourite films of all time, [the quote] just makes me laugh when I read it!” It’s an apt choice for Lambe, who has been blossoming into her own, too. On screen, she conveys so many of the nuances of contemporary Indigenous youth, gracefully embodying the anxieties of her generation.

—

OPPOSITE

ABOVE (TOP RIGHT)

Anna Lambe as Sarah in Trickster (2020)

Anna Lambe in her upcoming short film Qauppat

COURTESY CBC

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Stefan Chua is a writer and photographer based in Toronto, ON.

NOTES

¹ All quotes Anna Lambe, interview with Stefan Chua, November 2023.

ABOVE (TOP LEFT)

Anna Lambe as Spring in The Grizzlies (2018)

This Profile was made possible through support from RBC Emerging Artists.

PHOTO SHANE MAHOOD COURTESY MONGREL MEDIA

ABOVE (BOTTOM RIGHT)

Anna Lambe at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto, 2019 COURTESY THE ARTIST

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 MARCH 28 TO MAY 12, 2024 An exhibition celebrating spring through Northwest Territories Indigenous art 1356 Sherbrooke St. W. Montreal (QC) H3G 1J1 laguilde.com Promotional Partner

Inuit Art Quarterly

Follow us @LaGuildeMTL

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Spring 2024

Ohotaq Mikkigak A Retrospective Spring 2024 Feheley Fine Arts is pleased to present a collection of abstract and figurative drawings by this acclaimed graphic artist, highlighting his prolific career.

LANDSCAPE WITH HILLS, 2012 Coloured pencil 47 1/4 x 49 1/4 in.

www.feheleyfinearts.com gallery@feheleyfinearts.com 65 George Street, Toronto 416 323 1373

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Beyond Triage Work

A conversation on representation and ethics in film

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by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Ezra Winton

The ethics of making documentaries—whose stories are told, who is behind the camera, and who is watching—have had an indelible impact on the career of Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, MSC. These questions are central to her films, including Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos (2011) and Angry Inuk (2016), and have also informed her ongoing advocacy for Inuit-led storytelling. As a co-owner of the Iqaluit, NU, production company Red Marrow Media, Arnaquq-Baril is also known for projects like The Grizzlies (2018), Slash/Back (2022) and Twice Colonized (2023), as well as her tireless dedication to skill-building for up-and-coming Inuit film talent. In this conversation with film scholar/curator and Cinema Politica co-founder Ezra Winton, they unpack the urgency and convictions that underpin Arnaquq-Baril’s work as a filmmaker, mentor and cultural advocate.

Content note: This article contains a discussion of racism and a brief mention of residential schools. Support is available 24 hours a day for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools and for those who may be triggered by content dealing with residential schools.

The national crisis line for residential school survivors is 1-866-925-4419. Survivors and their families can also contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line toll-free at 1-855-242-3310.

Looking takes practice, and institutions as well as dominant groups in society teach us how to look and be looked at. The ways we’ve been conditioned to observe are often described as gazes: the male gaze (a term introduced by Laura Mulvey), the ethnographic gaze, the settler gaze. In this conversation, we consider the ethical and cultural dimensions of looking and being looked at in colonial and decolonial cinema.

We pick up from a conversation Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and I had in 2015 about a Québécois film screened at the

Inuit Art Quarterly

Montreal film festival Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) that exemplifies an extreme example of the settler gaze and reproduces it via racist tropes about Inuit and the North.1 In the process, we speak about a new era of self-representation that has emerged in resistance to dominant gazes, and explore how Arnaquq-Baril’s creative practice—and the blossoming of Inuit film and TV productions more broadly—usher in new models for visual sovereignty. – Ezra Winton

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EZRA WINTON: In terms of representation, politics, documentary and making films in a colonial context, what’s changed since Nanook of the North (1922) was released?

ALETHEA ARNAQUQ-BARIL: We’ve gone from Robert J. Flaherty bringing his camera to the North and making films about us, set in the past, where the representation wasn’t true to what peoples’ lives were like at the time, to us being able to make our own content. We are not only in control of the narrative, but can speak to our own communities. Sometimes we make works specifically for outsiders. For instance, my documentary, Angry Inuk, was deliberately made for an outsider audience. Now, with two Inuktitut broadcasters, we can make content for our own communities and not be concerned about whether it’s palatable or entertaining to outsiders. I would say that’s one pretty big difference.

EW: Indeed. Nanook is celebrated as a historical document, including by some Indigenous scholars and many Inuit. There’s little existing visual documentation of cultural practices like those shown in the film, and it is interesting that it was presented as a documentary when it is mostly compelling re-enactments.

You’re saying there were more people— including Inuit—who were represented by outsiders than there are today. In our 2015 conversation we talked about the debacle around the screening of a Québécois film by Dominic Gagnon made up of video clips supposedly uploaded by northerners.

That film was called of the North (2015), a title clearly referencing Nanook of the North. Do you see a trajectory between the two films?

AA-B: I don’t think Nanook was as problematic as of the North. With Nanook, it was the start of a genre— there’s no way Flaherty could have known the impact his film would have. The fact that he was doing re-creations and portraying us as behind

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the times, I think was out of a genuine curiosity for how Inuit lived before contact with Europeans.

I don’t begrudge that. It’s an unfortunate consequence that it started this chain reaction of obsession with who we used to be. There is a desire to put Indigenous people in the past for a lot of reasons. For starters, it’s more convenient and amounts to less guilt for colonizers to think we’re already gone.

Although there are both positive and negative impacts of Nanook, I don’t think Gagnon’s film is in the same league. First of all, it’s not as important of a film, and second, it’s dishonest and harmful in a way that Nanook never was.

With Nanook of the North, although there are regrets about its impact, the families of the people who are featured in the film are proud.

I’ve interviewed an elder who was in the film as a kid, and he—like others—is proud and grateful to see images of Inuit back in the day.

Whereas of the North is more like a snapshot of racism in Quebec and the Quebec film industry.

Gagnon was able to make the film with funding from some of the most important funding agencies in Quebec, and he was supported by festivals like RIDM in the beginning, then around the French-speaking world. It still blows my mind.

PREVIOUS (LEFT TOP)

Still from Angry Inuk (2016) COURTESY NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA

PREVIOUS (LEFT BOTTOM)

Still from Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos (2011) COURTESY CINEMA POLITICA

PREVIOUS (RIGHT)

Still from Twice Colonized (2023) COURTESY ÁNORÂK FILM

OPPOSITE

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril speaking at Cinema Politica's 15th Anniversary COURTESY CINEMA POLITICA PHOTO VALÉRIE BAH

BELOW

Still from Angry Inuk (2016) COURTESY NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA

EW: What are your thoughts on ethnographic filmmaking and its legacy?

AA-B: If you’re asking any kind of question to do with race or whether some type of work is acceptable or not, just imagine: Do we have ethnographic films about the dominant cultures, or do we just make films about our everyday lives and tell stories about ourselves as human beings? Why is ethnography so focused on Othering whichever people have been fucked over?

I am writing a book on Inuit tattoos with a fellow Inuk tattooist, and we’re delving into research of the written record and also the oral history of Elders in our communities.

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Beyond Triage Work

because I got older, and I’m auntie age now. At 45 I don’t have the energy for every single thing I come across, but I’m not discouraged.

It’s the young people’s turn to go at it and learn from it, be burned by it, become all the wiser and continue moving the needle.

Because, yes, there are people who do the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) stuff and sometimes they’re just checking a box.

I see the longer game. I liken it to when Stephen Harper had to apologize for residential schools. You know he’s the last person who would want to apologize to Indigenous people for anything, but the fact was that the times required it, the public insisted on it and it got to a point where it was no longer acceptable—even for him—to be in power and not apologize for it. That, to me, meant a lot.

Mainstream cinema—especially Hollywood—has cannibalized itself for so long that it has become an echo chamber. There’s a racial awakening that’s happened over the last few years with the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and everything before and after that has instigated EDI initiatives. Sometimes institutional EDI moves start out as lip service, then they accidentally come up on some new things and they’re like, “Oh, shit! There’s actually a lot of interesting content with fresh perspectives out there!”

We’re doing work that would have been considered ethnography once upon a time.

And I don’t consider it that. The term ethnography bothers me.

It feels like something that’s done to me.

I don’t think white people think about themselves as the subject of ethnography very often, and if you’re doing work about people that you think would be weird if it was done to you, you should be thinking twice.

EW: Regarding the RIDM/of the North incident, I’d like to talk about institutions trying to make representational changes and also people like you and others pushing for concrete changes.

In that debate around of the North, the so-called freedomof-expression side saw the halting of that film’s circulation as a kind of censorship. At the same time, Inuit artists and activists, along with their allies and accomplices, saw the attempts to shut down the film as a kind of triage work—that is, a sort of cultural practice that addresses urgent wounds in the immediate, prior to or while taking collective actions around larger issues of harm that require coordinated care, like symbolic violence, misrepresentation and colonialism.

There is clearly a pressing need to continue pushing for more equitable forms of representation in institutions—precisely because those with power won’t give it up easily. But there are those who rankle at tactics toward a fair playing field as somehow being unfair, and that institutions—and filmmakers seeking funding from them—are mostly concerned with checking boxes—resulting in moderately changed cultural outputs in mostly unchanged structures. The criticism of some of the top-down moves to diversity posits that they are, in fact, mostly “box-checking” and lead to cultural expression becoming pedantic or safe.

I’m interested in your response to what I would characterize as a conservative blow back to industry changes regarding diversity.

EW: Hollywood and the entertainment industry have been story-broke for some time.

AA-B: Yes, but that’s an opportunity. This racial reckoning that has come out of moral obligation has forced people into a situation where they realize it’s commercially viable and socially beneficial to diversify.

Of course, there is still so much stacked against us. There are assumptions about how skilled we actually are as creators and nervousness across the industry around taking risks on people like us, handing over millions to do something great. Sometimes you see the hesitation: “Can they really deliver?”

EW: Could you speak about the work that you’re doing now?

AA-B: It took years of struggling to get my first film made and funded—to get anyone to deem it worthwhile—at a time when these conversations were not on the national stage, and it was frustrating and disheartening. I kept going until it happened. In my youth I had the energy to fight these—still very current—battles, including right up to of the North.

Earlier you said we were doing triage work, and it really rang true for me. Because I feel like that’s the work of the younger generations: the triage, and to not let anything go by. I’m so grateful

AA-B: I’m working on a lot of projects. I’m doing a big show in terms of budget and scale. It’s a ten-part half hour comedy that will be the biggest TV show that’s been done in the North so far. For Red Marrow Media, it’s been quite a ride to get it picked up and to get our careers to the point where we can be trusted to do a project of this size. While we’re doing it, we’ve also got a slate of things in development, including a documentary, which I will never abandon.

RIGHT

Still from Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos (2011) COURTESY CINEMA POLITICA

OPPOSITE

Still from Twice Colonized (2023) COURTESY ÁNORÂK FILM

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NOTES

One project I have that’s about to go into production is a good example of outsider vs. insider representation. I feel like a non-native filmmaker would cover residential schools as an issue and try to make a big, broad thing that covers the whole history. This project is very much an inside job and it’s not about all the trauma of residential schools. When I pitched it to the CBC, I told them that this isn’t trauma porn. I’m hunting for justice with this film. I’m hunting for the truth. I’m hunting for a sense of peace for the survivors.

While so many of us—myself and my family included—treasure the documentation done by outsiders in the past, I’m so grateful to be a part of a generation that can do that for ourselves. While we’re working on our own feature films and this new TV show, Stacey [Aglok MacDonald] and I are also working hard to create physical spaces that other Inuit can use for their own film and television projects, like creating a professional studio in Iqaluit. We are also doing our best to create training opportunities for others. Red Marrow productions are not just us as individual artists expressing ourselves with our own projects, we also want to support Inuit to create their own projects too.

When we were starting out, Stacey and I always wished we could intern at big film production companies to get that experience, but it just wasn’t accessible in the North, so we’re excited to be able to now give those opportunities to more storytellers from across Inuit Nunaat.

We have had one hundred years of Inuit on screen as depicted by other peoples, and now we want more Inuit to be involved in this industry and represented on screen to tell our stories from our perspectives. That’s why we volunteer in the industry, doing policy development for film and TV, sitting on boards and providing consultations for government and NGOs that further opportunities for our fellow Inuit and other Indigenous creatives. That’s why we train people outside our company; it’s community building. We want to develop the industry and bring our community along with us.

On a last note, as a member of the audience who watches TV and movies, I see changes. There’s a diverse mix of content creators now that are making global hits. It’s perplexing to me to think that you could ignore the very real concerns of entire communities and continue operating the old way in this day and age, because the young people are coming up, and everything is changing.

Tarrijaq

1

Read the full discussion in Indigenous Media Arts in Canada: Making, Caring, Sharing, edited by Winton and Dana Claxton (wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/I/IndigenousMedia-Arts-in-Canada), or download the PDF here: academia.edu/23701180/Curating_the_North_ Documentary_Screening_Ethics_and_Inuit_ Representation_in_Festival_Cinema

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril is an independent filmmaker and producer based in Iqaluit, NU. Known as an advocate for Inuit culture, her 2011 film Tunniit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos looks at traditional Inuit tattooing, and Angry Inuk (2016) addresses the negative publicity commercial seal hunting has received, presenting an Inuit perspective on its continued importance to Inuit survival. She works as a director, producer and animator and also runs the Iqaluit production company Red Marrow Media.

She is the recipient of multiple awards.

Ezra Winton is a writer, curator and professor based in Sofia, where he is an Assistant Professor in Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Bulgaria. He is a settler Canadian from unceded K'ómox Territory and co-founder of the Montreal film distribution and exhibition non-profit Cinema Politica.

He recently co-edited (with Dana Claxton) the hefty collection Indigenous Media Arts in Canada: Making, Caring, Sharing (2023) and is working on multiple writing/curating projects—when not hiking, cooking or soaking in mineral baths.

33

Beyond Triage Work

QIKIQTAALUK ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ BAFFIN ISLAND 1913–14

—

by Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker and Taqralik Partridge

Robert J. Flaherty’s influential 1922 film Nanook of the North has been the subject of critique for its staged representations and disempowerment of the Inuit who worked on it. Two earlier Flaherty films and series of photographs shot in Nunavut also raise questions about Flaherty’s relationships with and representations of local Inuit—though much of the footage was damaged. In this experimental text, Inuk writer and curator Taqralik Partridge and historian and curator Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker collaborate to reflect on photographs from the creation of Flaherty’s first film. In the process they tell the stories of the Qikiqtaalungmiut who brought the project to life, bridging historical documentation and living memory.

JO-ANNE BIRNIE-DANZKER

Robert J. Flaherty’s first narrative film on the life of an Inuit family and their community, Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island, was shot between October 1, 1913, and August 23, 1914, during a prospecting expedition to the Amadjuak region of the Qikiqtaaluk in Nunavut.1 More than 14,000 feet of silent film and numerous photographs were produced on location

by Flaherty and Inuit cultural and technical teams.

Local Inuit actors played lead and supporting roles in the film but were often identified by Flaherty under a different name, sometimes the name of the character they portrayed. As such, names and oral histories provided by Inuit Elders and Knowledge Keepers have been adopted throughout this text, replacing inconsistent and incorrect identifications provided

by Flaherty in his Qikiqtaaluk diary and subsequent publications.

Flaherty returned to the North in 1915 to take footage for his second film on the islands of Sanikiluaq, NU. Unfortunately the footage from both that film and the Qikiqtaaluk project were damaged in a fire while Flaherty was editing them in the South.

In 1920 Flaherty secured funding from the French fur trading company Revillon Frères to produce his third film, Nanook of the North (1922), in Inukjuak, Nunavik, QC. Their contract stipulated that footage from both of his previous films would remain in the possession

of Revillon Frères until Flaherty left for Nunavik, and could not be used in the future without their written permission.2 The film footage subsequently disappeared and few of the vintage photographs taken by Flaherty in Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut survived.

Flaherty’s fragile glass plates and unstable nitrate negatives remained in the care of his estate and the Robert and Frances Flaherty Study Center until 19793 when the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) commissioned an exhibition of vintage and modern photographs from the original plates and negatives, as well as a companion exhibition celebrating Inuit filmmaking and satellite broadcasting. Both exhibitions, Robert Flaherty. Photographer / Filmmaker. The Inuit: 1910-1922 and INUIT/T.V., were were curated by Birnie-Danzker and spanned from 1979 to 1981.4 The complex task of identifying the Inuit who were the subjects of Flaherty’s photographs began in the 1970s with renowned Inuk photographer and historian Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973) who met Flaherty as a child, oral historian Dorothy Harley Eber, CM and curator and historian Birnie-Danzker.

This visual essay is dedicated to the Inuit of Qikiqtaaluk who shared Inuit Ilitqusia, the Inuit Way of Knowing, with Flaherty.

PREVIOUS

Inuit Women and Child with Film Equipment 1913–1914 Digital photograph

ALL REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION THE FLAHERTY COURTESY ROBERT J. FLAHERTY DIGITAL ARCHIVE FONDS / 108, N2452 ALL PHOTOS ROBERT J. FLAHERTY

NOTES

The film was entitled Baffin Island or Baffin-Landers in 1915. In this visual essay, the title has been changed to Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island in recognition of the original and reclaimed name of the land where the film was made and to acknowledge the Qikiqtaalungmiut who co-produced and realized the film.

2 Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker, Robert Flaherty. Photographer / Filmmaker.

The Inuit: 1910-1922, exh. cat.

(Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1979), 56. A digital copy can be found at Internet Archive.

1

Inuit Art Quarterly

At the request of the Robert and Frances Flaherty Study Center, Robert J. Flaherty’s glass plates and nitrate negatives been loaned to Library and Archives Canada for safe storage since 1979.

4 A 1980–81 repatriation exhibition, also entitled Robert Flaherty. Photographer / Filmmaker. The Inuit: 1910-1922, toured in Nunavik and Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the same photographs from the original exhibition and displayed Flaherty’s Nanook of the North alongside them.

3

36

INUIT/T.V. was organized in collaboration with Tagak Curley, CM, ONu, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), Nunatsiakmiut Film Society; Pond Inlet Community T.V. Society; and the Inukshuk Project of ITK. It consisted of six television programs in Inuktitut produced by Inuit filmmakers, such as those from Nunatsiakmiut Film Society produced by Mosesie Kiponik, David Poisey and Joanasie Salomonie (1938–1998).

Spring 2024

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE:

Tarrijaq

These photos hold fascinating stories about little snippets of the lives of the Inuit actors and technicians from the Qikiqtaaluk Region who worked with Flaherty on this film. Even though these images are over one hundred years old, they’re within living memory because of oral histories. People in those communities and beyond heard the stories of these people from their own relatives or community members, so, in a way, their stories are still living, and to see a face that goes with those stories is really special.

There are always people in the community who know stories about those who have passed on and share them. When I would hear stories about my dad’s mom, they were told in such a way that they feel like any other family member who just happens to be maybe in another town or another location at this time. They are still alive, if not physically here.

In looking at these photos, I’ve been thinking a lot about how Inuit culture is so innovative. It’s a cultural thing, an Inuit learning system, to be ready to take on new technologies. You take to things quickly because you must. You take to things by looking at them in 3D and understanding how they work. This is immediately clear in the image of the women and child with the camera.

So as opposed to the staged scene in Nanook of the North of Allakariallak looking at the gramophone in wonder and in confusion, it’s more likely that Inuit who first encountered that new technology looked at it with a keen eye— looked at how it worked and how to work it themselves. Inuit at this point in time were able to learn the workings of the camera to use it to great effect, to recognize its power. Later photographers like Peter Pitseolak really understood what the value of that technology was, and I, being a photographer myself, think it’s really exciting.

These photos also show us people dressed in beautiful Inuit clothing and wearing hairstyles that we still wear today. When I was a kid, we would have the hairstyle that Allego wears done for special occasions. I remember a Christmas concert where we were singing these really old Inuktitut songs and having hairdos like that; we wore braided ties with beaded tassels we had made in culture class.

The stories that accompany these photos—of Inuit leadership, artmaking and of running a dark room, in a hut, in the cold weather—are really fascinating to me. These are people who were doing something that they were interested in, participating in something new and amazing happening in their midst.

Knowing this, when I look at these photos, I wonder what the subjects are thinking about. The power of photography is that you feel that there is some kind of presence of that person even though they’re long gone.

37

Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86; Peter Pitseolak and Dorothy Harley Eber, People from our side: An Inuit record of Seekooseelak – the land of the people of Cape Dorset, Baffin Island, trans. Ann Hanson (Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1975), 56.

6 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” March 1, 1914, Robert Joseph Flaherty papers, 1884–1970. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York.

7 Dorothy Harley Eber, “On Koodjuk’s Trail,” Natural History, vol. 88, no. 1, January 1979, 83.

8 Pitseolak and Eber, 1975, 88.

9 Krista Ulujuk Zawadski and Jo Poortenaar, “Indelible Ink: The Enduring Images of Nungusuituq,” Inuit Art Quarterly, September 15, 2019, 52.

10 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 60.

11 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 54.

12 “Strange Eskimo Tribe Wore Eiderdown.

Valuable Mementoes of Mr. Flaherty’s Expedition Collected in Ontario Museum,” The Globe; Mar 29, 1915; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail. Reproduced in Birnie-Danzker 1979, 63, with incorrect, handwritten date.

13 Gene Thornton, “Flaherty’s View of Eskimo Life,” New York Times, May 4, 1980.

Simeonie Quppapik identified the subject of this portrait as Nungusuituq (1890–1950), who was the son of Tooeemee (Joe) and Lao, and a cousin of Peter Pitseolak.5 Flaherty stated in his diary that Nungusuituq was married to Luliakame.6 Nungusuituq provided invaluable cultural and technical knowledge during the production of Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island and possibly portrayed the lead role of Anunglung in the film.7 Pitseolak recalled that Nungusuituq was “the one [Flaherty] took pictures of. . . . [Nungusuituq] was the first one to draw; the picture makers made him draw. . . . I remember he told me it was tiring to make drawings.” 8 Decades later Krista Ulujuk Zawadski and Jo Poortenaar described Nungusuituq’s drawings and subsequent prints as “a pivotal and significant, yet often overlooked, mark on the vast landscape of Inuit art history.” 9 Flaherty described Nungusuituq as “easily first in either sledge driving or hunting amongst the motion picture retainers of the post, and more than that he was the [Inuk] artist par excellence at either drawing or carving in ivory.” 10 One of Nungusuituq’s drawings, Innuit Pektockseauk (Esquimaux Playing a Game) (c. 1913–14), inspired a scene in the film.11 The premiere screening of Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island in March 1915 was accompanied by an exhibition of Flaherty’s collection at the Royal Ontario Museum, which included several of Nungusuituq’s drawings.12 In 1930 several of his pencil drawings were displayed at an exhibition of Eskimo Arts and Crafts organized by the Canadian Handicrafts Guild (now La Guilde) at the McCord National Museum (now the McCord Stewart Museum) in Montreal, QC. When Nungusuituq’s drawings were again shown in the 1979 Flaherty exhibition organized by the VAG, the New York Times described them as “black-and-white silhouettes in two or three tones—dark figures against a white ground with landscape features . . . indicated only when essential to the idea of the picture . . . they are vivid and intensely realistic portrayals of important events of [Inuit] life . . . they nearly steal the show from [Flaherty’s] photographs.” 13

OPPOSITE

Camera Study of Nungusuituq 1913–1914 Digital photograph

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE:

JO-ANNE BIRNIE-DANZKER

5

It’s a cultural thing, an Inuit learning system, to be ready to take on new technologies. You take to things quickly because you must.

COURTESY ROBERT J. FLAHERTY DIGITAL ARCHIVE FONDS / 36, N176

Inuit Art Quarterly

38

Spring 2024

Tarrijaq

39

Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

Allego was helping Koodjuk [Flaherty] with the developing, and we were told that when they were developing there was not supposed to be light coming into the house. We used to peek through the door . . . and run away. . . .

After I was grown up Allego used to tell me, “When you were a wee girl you used to be naughty looking into Koodjuk’s house when we were developing.” 15 It is a tribute to Allego’s embodiment of Inuit societal values, such as qanuqtuurniq (innovation and resourcefulness) and pilimmaksarniq (developing skills through careful observation), that the fragile glass plates and nitrate negatives she developed with Flaherty more than one hundred years ago remain a powerful visual archive of Qikiqtaalungmiut, the people of the Qikiqtaaluk.

Flaherty’s makeshift darkroom was a shack that was described as a “‘large box;’ and the women used the outside for ‘nailing up sealskins

to dry.’” 16 Allego enjoyed sitting outside, listening to Flaherty’s gramophone with her friends Kanajuq and Kingnatchia.17 Flaherty brought a library of over four hundred records to Qikiqtaaluk, “numerous enough to cover the complete scale of musical taste which indeed ran to extremes in Amadjuak.” 18 Mumamee Shaa recalled that Flaherty taught Allego and her sister, Emenik, to write. “They couldn’t write on paper because the weather was too cold. They used to look for stones and blow on them. If their breaths made a white surface, they would write with a stick.” 19 Flaherty had chosen Eteenik for his winter base because of its proximity to good game and the presence of fresh water throughout the year— which is necessary to develop motion picture films. It was also a gathering point for Inuit along the seaboard.20 Flaherty described “the memorable days when we were in the hut” as filled with gossip, smoking, listening to music and playing billiards on a miniature table.21 Elders in Kinngait suggested that Allego may have been living with Nungusuituq when this photograph was taken.22 Later she moved away with an older man from a northern region, returning many years later as an angakkuq with beautiful tattoos. She married another angakkuq, Alariak, and they became important angakkuit in the Kinngait area. Allego eventually left Alariak and moved to Churchill, MB, where she died around 1957.23

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE:

JO-ANNE BIRNIE-DANZKER

Pitseolala Kelly and Peter Pitseolak identified the subject of this portrait as Allego, who would later become an illustrious angakkuq (shaman) with fire and seaweed as tuurngait (helping spirits).14 Artist Ulayu Pingwartok (1904–1978) of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, recalled Allego’s important role as Flaherty’s darkroom assistant in Eteenik, an ilagiit nunagivaktangat (seasonal camp) along the coast, northwest of Kimmirut, NU.

Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86; Eber, 1979, 79.

Eber, 1979, 79.

16 Ibid.

17 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86. In later publications, Flaherty identified photographs of Kanajuq, the lead female actor in the 1914 film, by the name of the role she portrayed, “Allegoo (Shining Water).” When Flaherty speaks of “Allegoo” in his diary, it is not certain if he is referring to the person Allego or to Kanajuq (who portrayed the character “Allegoo”).

18 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” September 20-25, 1913.

19 Eber, 1979, 79.

20 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” September 12, 1913.

21 Robert J. Flaherty, My Eskimo Friends: “Nanook of the North.” In collaboration with Frances Hubbard Flaherty. (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924), 122.

22 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86.

23 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86; Eber, 1979, 79.

14

15

Tarrijaq

I remember a Christmas concert where we were singing these really old Inuktitut songs and having hairdos like that; we wore braided ties with beaded tassels we had made in culture class.

OPPOSITE

Camera Study of Allego 1913–1914 Digital photograph COURTESY ROBERT J. FLAHERTY DIGITAL ARCHIVE FONDS / 33, N206

41

Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 86.

Pitseolak and Eber, 1975, 88.

26 The name “Anunglung” has been changed to Avaleeniatuk in this article, except when it refers to the lead role in Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island.

27 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” December 31, 1913.

28 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” February 28, 1914.

29 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” March 1, 1914.

30 “Robert J. Flaherty Diary,” August 19, 1914.

31 Eber, 1979, 83-84.

32 Birnie-Danzker, 1979, 85.

33 Pitseolak and Eber, 1975, 70-72.

34 The series, Those Were the Days was published in Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami’s newsletter Inuit Monthly (later Inuit Today) between 1974–1975. The series was reprinted in Inuit Today as “The Writings of Akavik.”

35 The exhibition was organized by Carleton University Art Gallery in Ottawa, and toured from September 2018–March 2020.

24

Renowned artists Pitseolak Ashoona, CM, RCA (c. 1904–1983), Mary Qayuaryuk (Kudjuarjuk) (1908–1982) and Pudlo Pudlat (1916–1992) identified the subject of this portrait as Avaleeniatuk, the adoptive brother of Nungusuituq and adopted son of Tooeemee (Joe) and Lao, which Peter Pitseolak and Kinngait Elders confirmed.24 Peter Pitseolak, a close relative of Avaleeniatuk, described him as “the real worker” during Flaherty’s sojourn on Qikiqtaaluk.25 In his publications, however, Flaherty ascribed this role to someone named “Anunglung.” It is highly probable, and may be assumed, that Avaleeniatuk and “Anunglung” are the same person.26 On December 31, 1913, Avaleeniatuk was secured as a dog team driver for Flaherty’s long journeys.27 His multiple roles included guide, hunter, production assistant and actor.

Avaleeniatuk embodied the Inuit value of qanuqtuurniq (innovation and resourcefulness).

He repaired lashing and broken shoeing on sleds, hunted barren-ground caribou and provided Flaherty with a wealth of information about the region, sharing Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, living knowledge that Inuit have always known to be true, and pilimmaksarniq, knowledge acquired through careful observation.

He explained to Flaherty that “igloos made of this salt snow off sea ice are warmer than one of land snow, which forms into ice more quickly.” 28 Flaherty and Avaleeniatuk reached the mouth of Amadjuak Bay on March 1, 1914. That evening, spectacular northern lights undulated in successive curtains, culminating “in a maelstrom of swirling light [of] wonderful apple greens, lavender, old rose and cream, and through it all the stars shone. . . . So low did the fingers hang to our moving sledge that they seemed almost in reaching distance.” 29 In August, Flaherty departed the Qikiqtaaluk forever with a northeast wind and clear sparkling weather. “With more reluctance than I can describe,” he wrote, “we bade farewell to [the Qikiqtaalungmiut], for whom we really learned to care.” 30 Among them were two remarkable brothers, Nungusuituq and Avaleeniatuk. The question remains: who portrayed Anunglung, the lead character of Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island? Was it the charismatic Nungusuituq, of whom Flaherty “took pictures,” or the “real worker,” Avaleeniatuk?

Ten years after Flaherty left the Amadjuak region, Avaleeniatuk and his family died while out on the land. 28

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE:

JO-ANNE BIRNIE-DANZKER

25

OPPOSITE

Camera Study of Avaleeniatuk 1913–1914 Digital photograph

The haunting aspect of these photos is that they put faces to people that live in the community consciousness still.

COURTESY ROBERT J. FLAHERTY DIGITAL ARCHIVE FONDS / 48, N188

Inuit Art Quarterly

42

Spring 2024

Tarrijaq

43

Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

Inuit Art Quarterly

44

Spring 2024

Altogether the people living in [Tujjaat] whom my family tried to come and get were 46. They were that many and they had an ordinary Eskimo sealskin boat. [Then the ship Active arrived, which] took us back to our homeland. . . .

Altogether with the people from [Tujjaat] and all of us, we were 57 persons. There were that many of us taken to Tikerak [near Kinngait] on

the ship Active and brought back to [Sikusiilaq] in the year 1908.

One of Inutsiaq’s largest works, the stone and ivory sculpture Umiaq Migration from the late 1950s, recalls this journey. It depicts a crowded umiaq, a large, open skin boat, moving across water.

Inutsiaq’s grandson, Alootook Ipellie (1951– 2007), the son of Joanassie Ipellie and Napatchie, was born in Nuvuqquq, an ilagiit nunagivaktangit near Iqaluit. An artist, writer and Inuktitut translator, Alootook Ipellie lived for some time with his uncle and then with Inutsiaq, who had a profound influence on him. In 1975 Ipellie published My Grandfather’s Story, Inukshuk, a fictional assemblage in eighteen parts that honoured Inutsiaq.34 His highly influential book, Arctic Dreams and Nightmares, was published in 1993.

In 2018 Sandra Dyck, Heather Igloliorte and Christine Lalonde curated a retrospective exhibition titled Alootook Ipellie: Walking Both Sides of an Invisible Border, 35 which included this photograph of Inutsiaq adjacent to an untitled ink drawing (circa 1987) by Ipellie appropriating, transforming and reclaiming Flaherty’s image of his grandfather. In contrast to Flaherty’s camera study, Ipellie’s drawing situates Inutsiaq, a revered Knowledge Keeper and Elder, firmly within his community, surrounded by children.

TAQRALIK PARTRIDGE:

JO-ANNE BIRNIE-DANZKER

Arnitok Ipeelee, a respected civic leader, identified this portrait of his father, Inutsiaq (1896–1967),32 whose name is often anglicized as Ennutsiak.

Inutsiaq was a renowned artist admired for his depictions of family and community life, capturing the everyday experiences of Inuit. Born in Nunavik, Inutsiaq lived on Tujjaat (Nottingham Island), NU, before moving to Sikusiilaq, NU. He lived a nomadic life before settling in Iqaluit, NU. Peter Pitseolak recalled meeting Inutsiaq on Tujjaat when his family travelled there to bring relatives to Sikusiilaq. 33 Pitseolak’s father thought he saw an inuksuk but it was actually Inutsiaq “on top of a hill watching us. When he saw us he started to run. Our people acted as if there was a big ship. They were so happy to be with other people.” Inutsiaq lived on Tujjaat in a tent with his widowed mother, Annagajuk, and sister, Aguteewoluk. Pitseolak recalled:

OPPOSITE

Camera Study of Inutsiaq 1913–1914 Digital photograph COURTESY ROBERT J. FLAHERTY DIGITAL ARCHIVE FONDS / 21A, N2096, N2433

Jo-Anne Birnie-Danzker is the former Director of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Frye Art Museum in Seattle, and Museum Villa Stuck in Munich, and former Director and CEO of the Biennale of Sydney. In 2022 she founded the Robert J. Flaherty Digital Archive Fonds and was commissioned by Avataq Cultural Institute in Nunavik to produce a community-curated exhibition in Inukjuak celebrating the centenary of Nanook of the North (1922).

Taqralik Partridge is a writer, artist and curator from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, based in Ottawa, ON. Partridge’s artistic work focuses on and celebrates Inuit life in the North and in the South. Partridge has held positions as Editor-at-Large for the Inuit Art Quarterly, Director of the Nordic Lab at SAW, Adjunct Curator at the Art Gallery of Guelph and Associate Curator of Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Tarrijaq

45

It’s important to—as much as we know—tell the story of these photos and the people in them, and the other people who worked with Flaherty; to recognize that these Inuit had agency—had amazing capabilities. I hope that people can be encouraged by that.

That even though they were not part of the larger, Western, commercial-capitalist world, it doesn’t mean that what they did has any less value. What we value, as Inuit, from these films and photos—staged as they were—are the record of our relatives and the stories that go with them.

Qikiqtaaluk ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ Baffin Island 1913–14

Filming Home

Isuma’s media world and the making of arctic cultural sovereignty.

—

by Faye Ginsburg translated by Rhoda Kayakjuak

ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕐᓂᖅ ᐊᖏᕋᒥᖕᓂᒃ

ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ

Content note: This article contains a brief mention of suicide.

— ᓴᓇᔭᖓ ᕙᐃ ᔨᓐᔅᐳᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓕᖅᑕᖓ ᕉᑕ ᖃᔮᕐᔪᐊᖅ

ᐃᓗᓕᖏᓐᓂ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᐊᖅᑕᑎᑦ: ᐅᓇ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓗᓕᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᓇᐃᑦᑑᒐᓗᐊᒥᒃ ᐃᒻᒥᓂᒃ ᑐᖁᓴᕐᓂᖅ.

Can Inuit bring storytelling into the new millennium?

Can we listen to our Elders before they all pass away?

Can we save our youth from killing themselves at ten times the national rate? Can producing community TV in Igloolik make our community, region and country stronger? Is there room in Canadian filmmaking for our way of seeing ourselves?

This quote succinctly states the commitments to cultural sovereignty—the right to maintain and protect cultures and traditions—at the heart of the ambitions and work of Igloolik Isuma Productions (now Kingulliit Productions), an artist collective based in Iglulik, NU. Kunuk expresses that their work has long focused on revealing “how our ancestors survived by the strength of their community and their wits, and how new ways of storytelling today can help our community survive another thousand years.” I have been honoured to work with and write about Igloolik Isuma for over 30 years, after first meeting them when they showed their work at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, New York. The group was founded in 1990 by filmmaker, community leader and cultural activist Zacharias Kunuk, OC, ONu, LLD, the late Inuit writer Paul Apak Angilirq (1954–1998), Elder Pauloosie Qulitalik (1939–2012) and American filmmaker Norman Cohn.

But the roots of this group goes back more than a decade before the launch of Igloolik Isuma in the 1990s. Kunuk explains that in the 1970s, “I noticed when my father and his friends came back from hunting they would always sit down with tea and tell the story of their hunt. And I thought it would be great to film hunting trips

– Zacharias Kunuk 1

PREVIOUS

Behind the scenes of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019) ALL COURTESY ISUMA DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL PHOTO LEVI UTTAK

Inuit Art Quarterly

ABOVE

Behind the scenes of Qaggiq (Gathering Place) (1989) OPPOSITE

Stills from Qaggiq (Gathering Place) (1989)

48

Spring 2024

ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᖏᑦ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐃᓅᓯᖃᓕᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᑎᑭᐅᑎᓯᒪᔪᓐᓇᖅᐹᑦ? ᓈᓚᒍᓐᓇᖅᐱᑕ ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᔪᓐᓃᓚᐅᓐᖏᓐᓂᖏᓂ? ᓴᐳᑎᔪᓐᓇᖅᐸᕘᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᑐᖁᓴᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᓐᖏᒻᒪᑕ ᐅᓄᕈᓐᓃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ 10-ᖏᖅᓱᖅᑐᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᓱᒃᑲᓂᖓᓂᑦ ᓱᒃᑲᓂᖅᓴᖅ? ᓴᕿᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᖅᐱᑖ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥ, ᐊᕕᒃᑐᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓴᖕᖏᓂᖅᓴᐅᓕᕐᓗᓂ? ᐃᓂᖃᖅᐸᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎᑦ ᑕᑯᔪᓐᓇᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᒃᑕᑦᑎᒍᑦ?

– ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ

1

ᐅᖃᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑐᑭᓯᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐃᓂᒃᓴᖃᕐᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᐅᑎᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᐋᕿᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᖏᓐᓇᕐᓗᒍ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᐳᒻᒥᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖁᓯᑐᖃᑦ - ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᔾᔪᑕᐅᕗᖅ ᑲᔪᖏᖅᑕᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ ᐃᓱᒪ (ᒫᓐᓇ ᑭᖑᓖᑦ), ᐅᓇ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑲᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓂᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ. ᑯᓄᒃ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᓴᓇᔭᑎᒃ ᐊᑯᓂ ᐊᐅᓪᓗᑎᔪᖅ ᓴᕿᓐᓇᓱᒃᖢᓂ, “ᖃᓄᖅ ᑭᖑᓕᕆᓚᖅᑕᕗᑦ ᐆᒪᓚᐅᖅᐸᑦ ᑕᐃᒫᒃ ᓴᖕᖏᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓇᔪᒍᓐᓇᕐᓂᕐᒥᖕᓄᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓄᑖᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕐᓗᓂ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐃᑲᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐆᒪᐃᓐᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᓱᓂ ᑕᐅᓴᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ.” ᖁᔭᓕᕗᖓ ᓴᓇᑎᑕᐅᒐᒪ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᒋᔭᐅᒐᒪ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ ᐃᓱᒪ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ 30 ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓄᑦ, ᑲᑎᑦᑕᕆᐅᕋᒃᑭᑦ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᕕᓂᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐊᒥᐊᓕᒐᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᐃᑦ ᓅ ᔪᐊᒃ, ᓅ ᔪᐊᒃ. ᐅᑯᐊ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ 1990 ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎ, ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᓯᕗᓕᐅᖅᑎᖓᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᓄᑦ ᑕᐱᖅ

Tarrijaq

ᐊᓯᕈᐃᓇᓱᒍᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᓴᖃᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ, OC, Onu, LLD, ᐃᓅᔪᓐᓃᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎ ᐹ ᐋᐸᒃ ᐊᖏᓕᖅ (1954-1998), ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᖅ ᐸᐅᓗᓯ ᖁᓕᑦᑕᓕᒃ (19392012) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᐊᓕᒐᒥᐅᑕᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎ ᓄᐊᒪᓐ ᑯᕼᐅᓐ. ᐱᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐅᑯᐊ ᖃᖓᑐᖃᖅ ᐱᒋᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᑎᓐᓇᒍ ᓱᓕ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ ᐃᓱᒪ 1990ᓂ. ᑯᓄᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᐃᒪᒎᖅ 1970ᓂ, “ᐅᔾᔨᕈᓱᒃᑐᖓ ᐊᑖᑕᒐ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕆᔭᖏᑦ ᑎᑭᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᓚᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑏᑐᖃᑎᒌᒃᐸᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕆᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᓂᕆᖃᐅᔭᑎᒃ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᖓ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᐅᑦᑎᐊᕚᓘᓇᔭᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕆᑯᑖᒋᐊᖃᕐᓂᐊᓐᖏᒻᒪᔾᔪᒃ, ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᓗᑎᒃ.” ᑕᐃᒪᓗ 1981 ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᓚᐅᖅᖢᓂ ᓴᓇᖕᖑᐊᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ, ᓂᐅᕕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕈᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᖢᓂ. ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᕌᕆᔭᖓᑦ, ᓴᓇᔭᖓᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᕿᑦᑐᓐᓇᖅᑐᒃᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᓂᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓂᑦ

49

ᑭᖑᓂᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕ˙ᕙᒑᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑑᑉ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓᓂᑦ (2019) ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓂᖅ ᐃᓱᒪ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᑐᓂᐅᖃᖅᑕᕕᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ

ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᖃᒡᒋᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ (ᑲᑎᒪᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ) (1989) ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖓ ᓱᓕ ᖃᒡᒋᖅ (ᑲᑎᒪᕕᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ) (1989)

Filming Home

media for their own communities. Their work was also featured in Canadian venues that reach the general public, as well as places such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

With more than a decade of work behind them, the group’s first feature film, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, was released in 2001 to remarkable international success. This longer-form dramatic work followed the practices they had used since the late 1980s, which established not only how the film would look and sound, but also ensured that the conditions of production would be on their own terms, reflective of aajiiqatigiingniq, an Inuit methodology for consensus-based decision making. This entailed working with an all-Inuit, mostly non-professional cast of Inuktitut speakers on location, often under extreme conditions, on a “modest yet professional $1.9 million budget.” 2 The film, based on a traditional story known widely among Inuit, details a murderous feud that ruptures the trust within a closely knit group of Inuit. To script the story, they recorded eight Elders, “telling versions of the legend as it had been passed down to them orally by their ancestors.”

Five writers then combined these “into a single detailed treatment in Inuktitut and English . . . [a] bi-cultural, bilingual process [that] continued through the first and final draft scripts.”

Thus the first feature film in Inuktitut was collectively authored and performed by talent drawn from Iglulik community members including Natar Ungalaaq, who played the lead character and was already a professional actor (and sculptor) who had played major roles in Canadian and American films.

so you wouldn’t have to tell it, just show it.” So in 1981 he sold some carvings, bought a video camera and started filming.

Isuma’s goals, projects and possibilities emerged from years of discussion, experimentation and experience as the artist collective developed their own local practice of filmmaking, beginning in 1985. The group invented what they call “filmmaking Inuit style,” an Inuit culture of production characterized by good humor, no fear, a lot of patience and a spirit of flexible cooperation and teamwork rather than corporate-style control. Their practice of cultural sovereignty is evident in their insistence on their own approaches to storytelling both on and off screen. Isuma’s distinctive approach took root with the creation of “re-lived” stories shot on video, based on the historical memory of Inuit Elders and enacted by a younger generation of their descendants. These inaugural works included Qaggiq (Gathering Place) (1988), Nunaqpa (Going Inland) (1991), Saputi (Fish Traps) (1993) and the 13-part dramatic TV series, Nunavut (Our Land) (1995). They offer a rich sense of how Inuit lived in the Qikiqtaaluk region of the Arctic before government-imposed settlements were established, capturing the sensibilities and narratives of a formerly nomadic lifestyle.

Originally these videos were shown locally and later broadcast across the North on Television Northern Canada, the precursor to the world’s first national Indigenous broadcaster, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. For Igloolik Isuma, making their work available on platforms that prioritize Indigenous media makers and audiences is consistent with their mission to create Inuit-made

LEFT, ABOVE & OPPOSITE

Behind the scenes of Saputi (Fish Traps) (1993)

Inuit Art Quarterly

50

ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ, ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ & ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᐳᑎ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ (ᐃᖃᓗᒐᓱᒡᕕᒃ) (1993)

Spring 2024

ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᒍᑕᐅᔪᑦ, ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕈᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᑖᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᓴᓇᔪᑦ ᑲᑎᑕᖏᑦ ᓴᕿᑎᑕᑎᒃ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐊᔪᕈᓐᓃᖅᓴᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᖢᓂ, ᐱᒋᐊᖅᖢᓂ 1985. ᐅᑯᐊ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᓪᓗᒍᓗ “ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕈᓯᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ” ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᔅᓯᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓱᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ, ᐊᑯᓂ ᐅᑕᕿᑦᑎᐊᓲᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᔭᕆᐊᖃᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᒌᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐋᕿᒃᓯᒪᓐᖏᓪᓗᒍ ᑐᓐᖓᕕᖃᕐᑎᑦᑎᓲᑎᒍᑦ. ᐅᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᓯᖓᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᐆᒪᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᐃᓕᖓᓪᓚᑖᖅᑐᕕᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐱᒋᐊᕈᑎᖓᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓕᐅᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂ ᓯᓚᑖᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᑎᑦᑎᒍᑦ. ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᐅᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᕈᑎᖓᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᓯᒪᖕᒪᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᖕᓂᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᖕᓂᑦ ᓴᕿᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ “ᐊᑐᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᖢᒋᑦ,” ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐊᕆᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᕆᓪᓗᒍ, ᐊᑐᖅᓯᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᒃ ᐃᖃᐅᒪᔭᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᐃᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓂᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒥᖕᓂᑦ. ᐅᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᒋᖅ (1988), ᓄᓇᖅᐸᖅ (1991), ᓴᐳᑎ (1993) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ 13-ᓂᒃ ᐃᓚᒌᒃᑐᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖑᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑏᕖᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ (1995). ᐅᑯᐊ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᓚᐅᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᐃᓅᓚᐅᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᒐᕙᒪᒃᑯᓂᑦ ᓄᓇᑖᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᑎᓐᓇᒋᑦ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᑑᑎᖃᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᒃ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖅᑕᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᑎᓐᓇᒍ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐅᑯᐊ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑭᐅᖑᓂᐊᒍᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒧᑦ ᑲᓇᑕ, ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑐᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ, ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ. ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒧᑦ ᐃᓱᒪ, ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᑎᑦᑎᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᒃᓴᕆᔭᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᒪᓕᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᑦ-ᓴᓇᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᒥᖕᓄᑦ. ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ ᐅᑯᐊᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑎᑭᐅᑎᓇᓱᒃᖢᒋᑦ ᑭᒃᑯᑐᐃᓐᓇᓕᒫᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ

Tarrijaq

51

ᓄᓇᓖᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓ ᒫᓐᓇ ᑐᓴᐅᑎᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓕᕆᓂᖅᑎᒍᑦ ᓅ ᔪᐊᓐ, ᓅ ᔪᐊᓐ. ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ ᖁᓕᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᑎᓪᓚᑖᑎᒍᑦ ᓴᕿᑎᑕᖏᑦ, ᐊᑕᓈᕐᔪᐊᑦ: ᐅᕿᓚᔪᖅ, ᓴᕿᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ 2001 ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᕋᒥᒃ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᑲᔪᓯᑦᑎᐊᕈᑎᒋᓯᒪᓪᓗᒍ. ᑕᑭᓂᖅᓴᑦ ᑲᓄᐃᓕᐅᖑᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ— ᐊᔪᕈᓐᓃᖅᓴᐅᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᖢᒋᑦ ᐊᑐᕆᐊᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑦ ᐊᑖᓂ 1980ᓂ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖓ ᑕᐅᑦᑐᖃᕋᔭᕐᒪᖔᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓂᐱᖃᕋᔭᕐᒪᖔᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓂᖓᑦ ᓴᓇᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐋᕿᒃᓯᒪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐊᑐᖅᖢᒍ ᐋᔩᖃᑎᒌᖕᓂᖅ, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒃᑕᑐᖃᖓᑦ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᑦ-ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᓕᐊᖏᑦ. ᐱᓯᒪᓂᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᓇᖃᑎᒋᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᓐᓇᐃᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᑕᒪᑐᒥᖓ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᖃᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᖢᒋᑦ ᐃᓂᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᐃᓛᓐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᓯᓚ ᐃᒃᑮᒻᒪᕆᐊᓘᑎᓪᓗᒍ, “ᐊᑭᑐᔪᒥᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᒥᖕᓄᑦ $1.9 ᒥᓕᐊᓐ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖅᑑᑎᒃᓴᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ.”2 ᐅᓇ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᖅ, ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᑦ, ᓇᓗᓇᐃᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᐊᕋᓱᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᑯᐊᓗ ᐊᑭᕋᖅᑑᑎᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᒍᑦ ᐱᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᐅᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ ᖃᓂᒌᑦ ᐃᓄᑭᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ. ᐅᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅ, ᓂᐱᓕᐅᓚᐅᖅᖢᒋᑦ 8 ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᐃᑦ, “ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᒥᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒥᖕᓂᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᓂᐊᕐᒪᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᖓᑦ ᑭᖑᓕᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᒥᖕᓂᒃ.” ᑕᓪᓕᒪᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᑎᓪᖢᒋᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ, :ᐊᑕᐅᓯᕐᒧᑦ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑎᑐᑦ...[ᐅᓇ] ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖃᑎᒌᑦ, ᒪᕐᕉᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ [ᑖᒃᑯᐊ] ᑲᔪᓯᔪᖅ ᐱᒋᐊᕐᓂᖓᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᔭᕇᕈᑎᒥᖕᓄᑦ ᐅᓂᑳᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᒐᒃᓴᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ.” ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᐅᖕᒪᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖓᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓐᖑᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥᐅᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓇᑖᖅ ᐅᖓᓛᖅ ᐅᓇ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖑᔪᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ (ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᓇᖕᖑᐊᖅᑎ) ᐱᓐᖑᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᖏᔪᓂᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᐊᓕᒐᓂ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᑎᓂ. ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᔨᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ,

Filming Home

The Inuit crew, “mixed experienced professionals with first-time trainees learning on-the-job skills needed for a future Nunavut-based film industry. . . . Altogether, the production employed approximately 60 Igloolik Inuit as cast, crew and support staff. Inuit jobs and local spending on Atanarjuat pumped more than $1.5 million into the local economy of Igloolik.” Isuma’s distinctive approach to production in Atanarjuat provided a blueprint for Inuit media making as a form of cultural sovereignty and self-determination.

Among other prizes, the film won the prestigious Caméra d’Or in 2001 at the Cannes Film Festival in France—awarded annually to the best first feature film—as well as six Genie Awards in Canada in 2002, while enjoying a year-long world tour. While Igloolik Isuma’s success beyond Inuit Nunangat has put their films on the world stage, the group has long prioritized making their work available to their own and other Inuit communities as an essential part of their approach to cultural sovereignty.

In 2008 Kunuk and Cohn launched IsumaTV, an online platform for Indigenous media makers from across the globe to share their work for free using online media players that

Inuit Art Quarterly

can operate on a low bandwidth given the inequities of digital media access in the Arctic and many Indigenous communities.

Isuma has gone on to make a number of other award-winning features that delve into Inuit history and the deep transformations wrought by contact. Their 2019 feature, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, dramatizes a crucial moment in the life of the late Noah Piugattuk—played by his nephew Apayata Kotierk—a renowned Inuk hunter born in 1900 who lived to be 96 years old.

The film recreates a 1961 encounter that forever changed his life, when the Canadian colonial state demanded that he and his family leave their traditional land. Isuma created this film for the prestigious Venice Biennale, where they were chosen to create an installation for the Canadian Pavilion in 2019. Kunuk and the Isuma team, along with an all-woman curatorial group— including Inuk artist-curator asinnajaq, Carcross/Tagish First Nation curator Candice Hopkins, Catherine Crowston, RCA, Josée Drouin-Brisebois and Barbara Fischer— challenged the unspoken claims of this major art event as the centre from which diverse cultures are presented to the world, as is clear in their joint statement for the installation:

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ABOVE

Zacharias Kunuk behind the scenes of One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019) OPPOSITE

Installation view of Isuma at the Canada Pavilion for the 58th International Art Exhibition/La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2019 COURTESY NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

Spring 2024

ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᓴᖅᑲᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᓯᑎᓪᓗᒋ ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑑᑉ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓᓂ (2019) ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ & ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᖅᑕᐅᓂᖏᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᕙᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐃᓂᒋᔭᐅᔪᒦᑎᓪᓗᒋ 58-ᒋᔭᖓᓂᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ/La Biennale di Venezia, ᕕᓂᔅᒥᑦ, ᐃᑕᓕᒥᑦ, 2019 ᑐᓂᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᓂᒃ

“ᑲᑎᖓᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔮᕆᓪᓗᒍ ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓗ ᐱᒋᐊᕆᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᑦᑎᕙᓪᓕᐊᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔪᒋᑦᑎᐊᕆᐊᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖑᔪᓂᒃ...ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ, ᓴᓇᔨᖏᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᖃᓂᒋᔮᓂ 60 ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥᐅᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑎᖏᑦ ᓴᓇᔨᑦ. ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂ ᐊᑭᓕᖅᓲᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᑕᓈᕐᔪᐊᑦ ᐊᑐᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ $1.5 ᒥᓕᐊᓐ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒧᑦ.” ᐃᓱᒪ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᒐᒥᒃ ᐊᑕᓈᕐᔪᐊᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕈᓐᓇᕐᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᖕᒥᓂ-ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ. ᐊᕙᑖᓂᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᑦᑕ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᐅᓯᐊᕆᓯᒪᔭᒥᑦ, ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖓ ᓵᓚᖃᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑐᒻᒪᕆᒃᑎᒍᑦ Caméra d’Or ᑕᐃᑲᓂ 2001 ᑳᓐᔅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᕆᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᑦ ᕗᓛᓐᔅ—ᑐᓂᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑕᒫᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᕆᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᓛᓂᒃ—ᐊᒻᒪᓗ 8 ᔩᓂ ᓵᓚᖃᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ 2002-ᒥ, ᖁᕕᐊᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓕᒫᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥᒃ ᐳᓚᕋᐅᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ. ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ ᐃᓱᒪ ᑲᔪᓯᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᖓᑖᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᑦᑕ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᖏᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᓯᒪᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᐅᑯᐊ ᐊᑯᓂ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᑎᓪᖢᒋᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᖕᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓄᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᖕᒪᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᐱᒋᐊᕈᑎ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖓᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓕᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑦ. ᑕᐃᑲᓂ 2008 ᑯᓄᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑯᕼᐅᓐ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓱᒪ, ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓂᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎᑦ ᓇᒥᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᑕᑯᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᕿᖃᓐᖏᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᕈᓐᓇᐅᑎᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᐅᑯᐊᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᓴᖕᖏᓗᐊᓐᖏᑦᑑᒐᓗᐊᖅᑎᒋᑦ ᖃᖓᑦᑕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᑕᖃᓗᐊᕌᓗᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᕐᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᕈᓐᓇᐅᑎᑦ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂ

Tarrijaq

53

ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᓱᓂ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓂ. ᐃᓱᒪ ᖁᓪᓕᖅᐹᖑᓕᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᓵᓚᖃᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᑦ ᐅᑯᐊᓗ ᓴᕿᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐱᑕᖃᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᑉᐸᓪᓕᐊᓯᒪᔭᑎᒃ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᓂᑦ. ᐱᖓᑦ 2019 ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑕᖓᑦ, ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ, ᐱᓐᖑᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᕐᓇᖅᑐᒦᔾᔪᓯᕕᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᖓᓂ ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᒃ - ᐱᓐᖑᐊᖅᖢᓂᐅᒃ ᖃᖏᐊᖓᑕ ᐊᐸᔭᑕ ᑰᑦᑎᖅ - ᐃᓄᒃ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᑎ ᐃᓅᓂᑯ 1900-ᓂ ᐃᓅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ 96 ᐅᑭᐅᖃᓕᖅᖢᓂ. ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᑎ ᓴᕿᑎᑦᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ 1961 ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᕕᓂᕐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᕈᐃᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᑲᓇᑕ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᖏᑦ ᐊᔭᐅᖅᓯᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᒥᓂᒃ ᕿᒪᒃᓯᖁᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᑐᖃᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ. ᐃᓱᒪ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑖᔅᓱᒥᖓ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᑎᒥᒃ ᑕᐃᑯᖓᕐᓂᐊᕋᒥᒃ ᕕᓂᔅ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐊᓂᒍᕌᖓᑕ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓲᓂ, ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᔪᒪᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᐃᑦᑕᓂᑕᖁᑎᖏᑦ 2019. ᑯᓄᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪ ᓴᓇᖃᑎᒌᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓗ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ-ᐊᕐᓇᐃᑦ ᐃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑕᓄᑦ ᑲᑎᒪᕙᒃᑐᑦ - ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᒃ ᓴᓇᖑᐊᖅᑎ-ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᑲᒪᔨ ᐊᓯᖕᓇᔭᖅ, ᑳᑯᓛᔅ/ᑕᒋᔅ ᐊᓪᓚᐃᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᓄᑦ ᑲᒪᔨ ᑳᓐᑎᔅ ᕼᐊᑉᑭᓐᔅ, ᑲᑐᕆ ᑯᓗᔅᑕᓐ, RCA, ᔪᓯᐄ ᐳᕈᐃᓐ-ᐳᓕᔅᐳᐊ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐸᐳᓚ ᕕᑦᓱ—ᐊᒃᓱᕉᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓂᓪᓕᐅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓇᑎᒃ ᐅᖃᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᑦ ᐅᓇ ᐊᖏᔪᒥᒃ ᓴᓇᖕᖑᐊᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ ᕿᑎᐊᓂᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖃᑎᒌᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᓴᕿᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᑭᓯᓇᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᑲᑐᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦ ᐃᓕᐅᖃᖅᑕᐅᓂᖏᓐᓄᑦ: ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᖢᒋᑦ ᐃᓱᓕᖃᐅᑎᒋᔮᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᓂᑦ ᖁᐊᖅᓵᕐᓇᖅᑐᑰᖅᓯᒪᓂᖅ, ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᔾᔪᓯᕐᒥᒍᑦ ᐅᑎᖅᑎᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᐅᔾᔭᐃᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᒋᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᑦ, ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ

Filming Home

Working against persistent historic trauma, Isuma’s practice recovers and sustains stories, language and traditions. Isuma creates contemporary forms of gathering places, through television broadcast, the internet, documentaries and fiction fi lms. . . .

The artists’ presentation in Venice offers models of radical inclusivity and digital democracy.

We feel that these media works link the social, cultural and political effects of dislocation and are particularly resonant in our present moment— a time that affords great mobility to a privileged few and forced dislocation for many.3 In the pavilion featuring Isuma’s work, One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk played on large monitors along with a collection of other fi lms made by Isuma. But the group decentred Venice by livestreaming their own webcasts from northern Baffi n Island into the pavilion via a webcast called Silakut Live from the Floe Edge, allowing viewers at the Biennale to witness in real time the concerns being raised by residents of Iglulik and other Inuit communities about the proposed expansion of the Mary River Mine on their land. By featuring One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk with the livestream, Isuma used the recreation of a crucial moment in the past to draw attention to current issues regarding control over their land, mingling past and present together. As their press release explained, The video installation One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk recreates an encounter on Baffi n Island in April 1961. . . . From the same place, 58 years later, Isuma webcasts Silakut Live from the Floe Edge as a multinational mining company plans a railroad and supertanker shipping past today’s Inuit communities of Igloolik and Pond Inlet. . . .

Isuma illuminates the consequences of Canada’s relocation of Inuit in the 1950s and 60s in order to reclaim history today and imagine a different future. . . . Silakut Live brings global media transparency to the consequences of forced relocation to viewers in Nunavut, Venice, Canada and worldwide.4 This decentring of Venice by livestreaming the Baffi n Island discussions through Silakut Live is evidence of Isuma’s radical infrastructural creativity, enabling their pavilion at the Venice Biennale to become a conduit for connectivity to their presence and protests in Nunavut. Their work over the last few decades has built a distinctive and reconfigured arctic media world on their own terms. These remarkable arctic cultural activists are prioritizing their own representational practices as well as creating their own forms of circulation, making work that is part of a now robust expression of Inuit cultural sovereignty.

ABOVE

Postcards and screening schedule from the press packet on Isuma’s installation at the 2019 Venice Biennale OPPOSITE

Stills from Silakut Live from the Floe Edge (2019)

Inuit Art Quarterly

— Faye Ginsburg, Director of New York University’s Center for Media, Culture and History and the Kriser Professor of Anthropology, is an award-winning writer and longstanding supporter of Indigenous media. She co-curated the 2005 showcase First Nations/First Features: A Showcase of World Indigenous Film and Media for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, and the Museum of Modern Art.

NOTES

The Art of Inuit Storytelling,” IsumaTV, November 11, 2017, isuma.tv/our-style/theart-of-inuit-storytelling.

2 All quotes unless otherwise stated “Filmmaking Inuit Style,” IsumaTV, October 15, 2009, isuma.tv/ atanarjuat/filmmakinginuit-style.

1

National Gallery of Canada, “Isuma Represents Canada at the Biennale Arte 2019,” news release, May 8, 2019, gallery.ca/forprofessionals/media/ press-releases/isumarepresents-canada-atthe-biennale-arte-2019.

4 Ibid.

3

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Spring 2024

ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᑦ. ᐃᓱᒪ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐋᕿᒃᑕᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᑲᑎᖓᕕᒃᓴᓂᒃ, ᑕᒪᐅᓐᓇ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ, ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ, ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᑎᒍᓪᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓱᓕᓐᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ. . . . ᐅᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᔨᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᕕᓂᔅ ᐊᑐᖅᓯᒪᔭᑎᒃ ᐃᒻᒥᒎᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᓚᓕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᕐᑎᒍᑦ ᒪᓕᒃᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᖅᑐᑎᒍᑦ. ᐃᒃᐱᒍᓱᒃᑐᒍᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᑕᑎᑦᑎᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ, ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᓕᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓂᕈᐊᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᐃᓂᖏᑦ ᐃᓂᖃᕈᓐᓃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᓴᕿᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᒫᓐᓇ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓕᕐᓂᑎᒃ ᒪᓕᒃᖢᒋᑦ - ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂ ᓄᒃᑕᕈᓐᓇᑦᑎᐊᕋᒥᒃ ᖃᑦᓰᓐᓇᕐᓂᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔭᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓅᑦᑕᕆᐊᖃᓚᐅᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᐊᒥᓱᓄᑦ.3 ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᐱᓐᖑᐊᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᔪᒥᒃ ᒥᐊᓂᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓗ ᓄᐊᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᐊᓯᖏᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᐃᓱᒪ. ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐲᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᕕᓂᔅ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᑕᐃᑲᖓᑦ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓂ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ᑕᐃᑯᖓ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒧᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒍᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᑦ ᐃᑭᐊᕿᕕᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᑎᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᑦ ᓯᓈᖓᓂᑦ, ᑕᑯᔪᓐᓇᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒥᖓ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐊᓂᒍᕌᖓᑕ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓲᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᐃᓱᒫᓘᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑐᓂᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᖕᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓂ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᑐᒃᓯᕋᖅᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᖏᒡᓕᒋᐊᕈᒪᔪᑦ ᓄᓘᔮᖕᓂ ᐅᔭᕋᖕᓂᐊᕐᕕᒃ ᓄᓇᒥᖕᓂ. ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒋᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᓱᒪ ᐊᑐᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᕿᑎᓯᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᑦᑕᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᑭᖑᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᑎᓪᖢᒋᑦ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓄᓇᒥᖕᓂᒃ, ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑭᖑᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒫᓐᓇ ᐊᑕᐅᑦᑎᒃᑯᑦ. ᑕᕐᕆᔭᒐᒃᓴᖅ ᐃᓕᐅᖃᖅᑕᖓᑦ ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥ ᐊᐃᕆᓕ 1961-ᒥ... ᑕᐃᑲᖓᑦᑕᐃᓐᓇᖅ, 58 ᐊᕐᕌᒍᐃᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐃᓱᒪ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᕗᑦ ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᖅ ᑕᐃᑲᖓᑦ ᓯᓈᖓᓂᑦ ᐅᓇ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒧᑦ ᐅᔭᕋᖕᓂᐊᕐᕕᒃ ᑲᒻᐸᓂ ᐸᕐᓇᐃᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓄᓇᓯᐅᑎᑯᑖᑦ ᐊᖁᑖᓂ ᓴᓇᔪᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖏᓂᖅᐹᑦᑎᐊᑦ ᐅᒥᐊᕐᔪᐊᑦ ᐅᓯᑲᖅᑕᖅᑎᑦ ᓴᓂᖁᑉᐸᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᓕᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒥᑦᑎᒪᑕᓕᒃ... ᐃᓱᒪ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᕗᖅ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂ ᑲᓇᑕ ᓅᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ 1950ᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ 60ᓂ ᑕᐃᒪᓗ ᐅᑎᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑦ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᓂᑕᐃᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓇᔭᓚᐅᕐᓂᖓ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᔪᓐᓃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓇᔭᓚᐅᖕᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᑦᑎᓐᓂᒃ... ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᖅ ᑐᓂᓯᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᓴᕿᑎᓪᖢᒋᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓕᕐᑎᑦᑎᓂᖓᑦ ᐊᔭᐅᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓅᑕᐅᔭᕆᐊᖃᓚᕐᓂᖅ ᑖᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᑕᑯᑐᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ, ᕕᓂᔅ, ᑲᓇᑕ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᖅ.4

ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᐅᓇ ᑕᒪᐃᓐᓂᒃ ᕕᓂᔅᒥ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᖅ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥ ᐅᖃᖃᑎᒌᒍᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᒪᐅᓐᓇ ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᕿᔮᑲᐅᑎᒋᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᖃᓄᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᓇᑉᐸᐃᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐋᕿᑦᑎᐊᖅᓯᒪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐊᔪᕈᓐᓃᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥᒃ ᕕᓂᔅ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐊᓂᒍᕌᖓᑕ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓲᓄᑦ ᐊᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᖓᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐃᓚᐅᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᕈᐃᓐᓇᓱᐊᕐᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ. ᓴᓇᔭᖏᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑦ ᐊᒥᓲᓗᐊᓐᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᖁᓕᑦ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᓂ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒋᔭᐅᓐᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᕿᑦᑎᐊᕈᑎᒋᓯᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᕐᓂᓕᕆᓂᖅ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐊᑐᕈᒪᔭᖕᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᐅᑯᐊ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᕈᐃᓇᓱᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᑎᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᕈᓯᕆᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᑭᒃᑯᓄᐊᕈᓐᓇᕐᓂᖏᑦ, ᐅᓇ ᓴᓇᔭᖓᑦ ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᕗᖅ ᓴᕿᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᕋᒥᒃ.

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓯᓇᒐᓃᖢᑎᒃ (2019)

ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᐊᖅᐳᓯ

“ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ, “ ᐃᓱᒪ” ᓄᕕᐱᕆ 11, 2017, ᐃᓱᒪ/ᐅᕙᑦᑎᑐᑦ/ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᖏᓐᓂᒃ.

2 ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᖃᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ ᐅᖃᖅᓯᒪᒍᓂ “ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ,” ᐃᓱᒪ, ᐅᒃᑑᐸ 15, 2009. ᐃᓱᒪ/ ᐊᑕᓈᕐᔪᐊᑦ/ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐊᕆᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ.

1

— ᕙᐃ ᔨᓐᔅᐳᒃ, ᑐᑭᒧᐊᒃᑎᖓ ᓅ ᔪᐊᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕐᕕᒃᔪᐊᖓ ᑐᓴᐅᑎᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ, ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒻᒪᑲᓪᓚᓂᑕᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑯᓕᓱ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨ ᐃᓕᖁᓯᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᑦ, ᓵᓚᖃᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᑯᓂ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᔾᔪᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐅᓇ ᑲᒪᔨᐅᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ 2005 ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᐃᑦ/ᓯᕗᓪᓕᑦ: ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᖅ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᒥ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᓴᐅᓯᐅᕐᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᖏᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖓᓂ ᐊᒥᐊᓕᒐᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᐃᑦ ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᒍᐊᓯᖕᑕᓐ, ᑎᓯ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃ ᒫᓐᓇ ᑐᓴᐅᑎᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ.

Tarrijaq

ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑎᑎᕋᕕᒃᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᖑᐊᓖᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖔᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᑯᑦ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᕙᓂ 2019-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᕕᓂᔅᒥᑦ ᐃᑕᓕᒥᑦ

55

ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃ ᑲᓇᑕ, “ᐃᓱᒪ ᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᐃᔪᖅ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᐃᑲᓂ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅ 2019,” ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓂᑦ ᓴᕿᑕᐅᔪᖅ, ᒪᐃ 8, 2019, ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᒃ. ᑲᓇᑕ/ᑖᒃᑯᓄᖓᓴᓇᔨᒻᒪᕇᑦ/ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᐅᖅᑎᑦ/ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᖅ/ᐃᓱᒪᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᖅᑐᖅ-ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᒃ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᐊᕐᕌᒍᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᕌᖓᑕ ᓴᕿᔮᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ-2019.

4 ᐊᔾᔨᐊ ᖁᓛᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 3

Filming Home

Film across the North

ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ

— translated by Elizabeth Qulaut

— ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᖁᓚᐅᑦ

From Isuma’s trailblazing work alongside Arnait Video Productions to the efforts of Red Marrow Media and the National Film Board’s Labrador Doc Project, there are many filmmakers and production companies today contributing to Inuit cultural sovereignty on screen. The IAQ examines some of the other exciting players working on documentary-style projects in the circumpolar Indigenous film space.

ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᖃᑎᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᕐᓇᐃᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᓪᓗ ᒫᕈ ᑐᓴᒐᒃᓴᓕᕆᔨᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᓛᐸᑐᐊᒥᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒥᓱᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᑕᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᑕᖃᕆᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᕈᑎᖃᕋᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᑎᒍᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᖕᖑᐊᖅᑐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᓐᖓᕕᖓᑕ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒐᖏᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓚᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᖢᓂᒋᑦ.

LEFT

Behind the scenes of Maliglutit (Searchers) (2016) COURTESY ISUMA DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL

ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᒪᓕᒡᓗᑎᑦ (ᕿᓂᕆᐊᖅᑐᑦ) (2016) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ

Arviat Film Society ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ

ABOVE & RIGHT

Stills from an episode of Tunnganarniq Nunagijavut: Arviat LIVE where artist David Nibgoarsi shows his carvings and makes a new carving on air, 2023 COURTESY ISUMA DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL

ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ & ᑕᓕᖅᐱᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᒃᓴᒥᑦ ᑐᙵᓇᕐᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᕗᑦ: ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᑕᐃᕕᑦ ᓂᑉᒍᐊᕐᓯ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᖓ ᓴᓇᖑᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᓇᖑᐊᑦᖢᓂ, 2023 ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓱᒪᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᐅᓕᒫᓄᑦ

ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᖁᓕᑦ ᐅᖓᑖᓂᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᓕᖅᐳᑦ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓄᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ. ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᑦ ᐊᖏᒃᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑦ 2010 ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᕆᔭᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᑲᑎᓯᒪᔾᔫᒥᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᐃᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᕆᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᕆᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᐳᑦ ᐱᖃᑎᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓐᓇᐅᓂᖅᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓴᐃᔨᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓂᒃ, ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᓪᓗ ᑕᐅᒃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᓕᕆᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᒡᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ, ᑎᑎᕋᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ, ᑎᑎᕋᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᐱᐅᓯᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᖅ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒧᑦ ᐃᑲᔫᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᑭᖑᕚᕆᔭᐅᔪᓄᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑦ 2021-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᑦ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑎᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐅᑯᓂᖓ ᐅᕙᒍᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᓕᕆᔨᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᑐᙵᓇᕐᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᕗᑦ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓲᖑᔪᖅ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᑕᒫᑦ 24/7 ᐃᓄᒃᑑᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ ᐅᕙᒍᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᕕᔅᐱᒃᑯᑦ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓕᕌᖓᑦ ᑐᖓᓱᒃᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᓂ, ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᓗ ᐃᓱᒪᑕᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓐᓇᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᕐᒥᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᒐᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᐸᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᓂᕿᓕᐅᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑯᐊᓪᓚᒃᑐᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᖃᒥᑦᑎᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᓚᕖᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᖅᑭᓂᒃᓴ 6-ᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᐊᓚᐅᖅᑑᒐᓗᐊᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐱᐅᒋᔭᐅᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖓ ᐅᖓᕙᕆᐊᒻᒪᕆᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓗ ᐊᕐᕕᐊᓂ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ ᑲᔪᓯᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ.

More than a decade after its founding, the Arviat Film Society (AFS) has become one of the most successful youth-driven training programs in Nunavut. AFS grew out of a 2010 history project in Arviat, NU, that aimed to bridge the gap between Elders and local youth by filming Elders telling their stories and documenting Inuit history in a modern way. Today it is composed of youth members working alongside mentors and educators to learn a variety of skills related to film, video, new media and communications, documenting oral history and Inuit knowledge for the benefit of future generations.

Since 2021 the society has partnered with Uvagut TV and a host of other community filmmaking initiatives on a national show, Tunnganarniq Nunagijavut, which is broadcast live through the 24/7 Inuktut TV channel Uvagut TV as well as on Facebook. The show welcomes artists, community leaders and Elders to share their knowledge, and also provides vital educational resources like cooking lessons and fire safety training. Although the show was initially only meant to run for six months, its popularity was such that it has been extended indefinitely, providing a continuing space for Arviat Film Society members to hone their skills.

Tarrijaq

57

Film across the North

Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. ᑕᕐᕋᒥᐅᑦ ᓂᐱᖓᑦ ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᒃᓴᒥᑦ 3 ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ (2021) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ APPLE TV

ᐊᑖᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᒃᓴᒥᑦ 7 ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ (2021) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ APPLE TV

ABOVE

Still from Episode 3 of Adventures on Inuit Land (2021) COURTESY APPLE TV

RIGHT

Still from Episode 7 of Adventures on Inuit Land (2021) COURTESY APPLE TV

ᑕᕐᕋᒥᐅᑦ ᓂᐱᖓᑦ (TNI) ᐱᒋᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1975-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᐊᖑᓇᓱᖏᖢᓂ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᓄᑦ ᐱᓇᓱᓗᐊᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᑯᐸᐃᑉ ᐅᐊᖓᓂᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᑦ ᑐᕌᕈᑎᖃᓗᐊᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᓴᖏᓕᖅᑎᑦᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕋᓱᒃᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᒃᑲᓐᓂᕋᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐊᐅᓚᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᓴᓪᓗᓂᑦ, ᓄᓇᕕᒃᒥᑦ, ᑯᐸᐃᒥᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒪᓐᑐᕆᐊᒥᑦ, ᑯᐸᐃ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᕐᕋᒥᐅᑦ ᓂᐱᖓᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ NCTV-ᑯᑦ, ᓄᓇᕕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑕᐅᒃᑐᒃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ NCTV-ᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᑲᕐᕋᓂᒃ 60-ᓂᒃ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᓕᒫᕐᒥᒃ, ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖏᑦᑑᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃᓗ ᐊᓐᓂᐊᖏᑦᑎᐊᕐᓗᓂ ᐃᓅᓇᓱᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕆᔭᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕆᔭᐅᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᖅᑲᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒥᐅᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕐᓂᐊᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ.

2019-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᕐᕋᒥᐅᑦ ᓂᐱᖓᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐃᓄᖑᐊᓂᒃ ᓄᑕᖅᑲᓄᑦ, ᐅᕕᒃᑲᐅᕗᒍᑦ, ᐅᑭᐅᒥᒃ ᑕᒪᑐᒪᓂ 2019-ᒥᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓕᓚᐅᕆᕗᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓃᖑᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᑎᑐᑦ ᓯᓚᒥᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᕈᑎᒋᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᒃ 2021-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᖃᑦᑎᖅᖢᓂ 2022-ᒥᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᐅᒋᔭᐅᒻᒪᕆᒃᖢᓂᓗ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ NCTV-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑭᖑᓂᐊᒍᑦ APTN-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒃ Apple ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ Google Play-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ—ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᕐᕇᔮᒃᓴᓕᐊᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᑕ.

Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. (TNI) was founded in 1975 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing communications and services to Inuit in northern Quebec. The organization’s goal is to strengthen the Inuktitut language and promote traditional and contemporary Inuit culture.

With production offices in Salluit, Nunavik, QC, and Montreal, QC, TNI operates the television network NCTV, which is available across Nunavik and airs in Inuktitut. NCTV runs approximately 60 hours of programming a week, covering a wide variety of topics from lessons on healthy living, traditional skills development and cultural knowledge to children’s programming and footage of community events.

In 2019 TNI began airing a multi-part puppet show for children, Uvikkauvugut, and that same year also began production on a series called Adventures on Inuit Land, showcasing traditional outdoor adventures done by Inuit. The series began airing in 2021 with a second season following in 2022, and gained popularity beyond their own NCTV broadcast, eventually airing on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and available through streaming services like Apple TV and Google Play—a success that illustrates how vital their work is.

Inuit Art Quarterly

58

Spring 2024

OKâlaKatiget Society ᐅᖃᓪᓚᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ ᓇᐃᓂᒥᑦ ᓈᓚᐅᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ, ᓄᓇᑦᑎᐊᕗᒻᒥᑦ, ᓂᐅᕙᓐᓛᓐᒥᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1982-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᑭᐅᖅ ᓈᓚᐅᑎᒃᑯᑦ, ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᑕᒫᓂᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᓚᐸᑐᐊᑉ ᐅᐊᖕᓇᖓᓂᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ, ᐊᓯᐅᔨᑦᑕᐃᓕᒪᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᒫᓂ ᓛᐸᑐᐊᕐᒥᑦ. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥᓕ ᓈᓚᐅᑎᒃᑯᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᑐᓴᖅᓴᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᓪᓗ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᒥᐅᑎᑐᓪᓚᕆᒃ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᑎᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᖓ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᓛᐸᑐᐊᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ, ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1983-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐃᑲᕐᕋᖅ 30-ᒥᓂᑦᓯᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᑐᓄᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓲᒍᔪᑎᒍᑦ (APTN). ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓕᐅᖑᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᑎᓪᓗᒋᑎ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᓯᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᓂᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖔᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ; ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓄᓪᓗ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᒫᓂᓕᒫᖅ ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᒥᑦ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᙳᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᓚᐸᑐᐊᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᓂᒃ 28-ᓂᒃ, ᓵᓚᒃᓴᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᖅᓱᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᑲᓇᑕᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᑦᑎᐊᖃᑦᑕᕐᒪᑕ. ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ 2001 ᐊᒻᒪᓗ 2003ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᑎᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᕙᖔᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᕼᐃᐳᕌᓐᒥᑦ. ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᓛᐸᑐᐊᕆᒥᐅᑦ ᐲᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ 2011-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐅᖃᓪᓚᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᐃᓇᖏᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᖔᓕᖅᖢᓂ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᖅᓯᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᑕᒫᓂᕗᒍᑦᒥᑦ, 7-ᓂᒃ ᐅᑭᐅᓂᒃ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᕙᒃᓗᓂ ᓚᐸᑐᐊᒥᐅᓂᑦ ᓄᑕᖅᑲᓂᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᒥᓂᒃ, ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑕᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᐃᓐᓇᖁᔨᓪᓗᑎᒃ.

Broadcasting from Nain, Nunatsiavut, NL, the OKâlaKatiget Society was incorporated in 1982 as a radio, television and print communication service for communities along the north coast of Labrador, with a mandate to preserve Inuit language and culture in Labrador. At the time it was the only broadcasting service that provided programming in Inuttitut, a Nunatsiavut-specific dialect of Inuktut.

The society’s flagship TV program, Labradorimiut, began airing in 1983, eventually garnering its own 30-minute slot on APTN. The documentary-style show featured a local Inuit production crew developing their skills behind the camera with the help of mentors from the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation and Inuttitut speakers in front of the camera; they travelled to communities across Nunatsiavut to cover current and cultural affairs as well as entertainment items.

Labradormiut aired continuously for 28 years, winning multiple awards from the National Aboriginal Communications Society for excellence in Inuktut programming.

The society also produced films in 2001 and 2003 documenting the forced relocation of Inuit from Hebron. Following the cancellation of Labradorimiut in 2011, OKâlaKatiget Society replaced it with a more youth-oriented show called Tamânevugut, which ran for seven seasons educating Labradorimiut children about the importance of keeping their traditions, culture and heritage alive.

LEFT

Still from episode “Nunaksiamut” of Labradorimiut (1983) COURTESY OKÂLAKATIGET SOCIETY

ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ “ᓄᓇᒃᓯᐊᒧᑦ” ᓛᐸᑐᐊᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ (1983) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ OKÂLAKATIGET SOCIETY

Tarrijaq

59

Film across the North

Ánorâk Film ᐊᓐᓄᕌᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᑦ 2011-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑎ, ᐊᓐᓄᕌᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᑦ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑲᒻᐸᓂᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᑲᓛᖡᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᐅᖅᑎᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᓄᖓ ᐃᓄᒃ ᓯᓕᔅ ᕼᐅᒡ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒥᓕ ᕼᐅᕐᑦᓂᖕ ᐱᕈᓇᕐᑦ. ᐊᓐᓄᕌᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓲᖑᔪᑦ ᑖᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕇᔮᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖑᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᓴᓇᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕇᔮᒃᓴᓂᒃ --- ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑲᓛᖡᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᕐᒥᐅᑎᑐᑦ (ᐊᑯᑭᑦᑐᒥᑦ). ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᓕᐊᕆᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖓᑦ, ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓲᒦ ᑐᓴᖅᓴᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᕐᒥᒃ (2014), ᐅᓂᒃᑲᐅᓯᐅᔪᖅ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐅᑭᐅᖅ 1970 ᐊᑐᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓂᔾᔭᐅᓯᔭᖅᑏᑦ ᐃᖏᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᒐᕙᒪᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᕐᕇᔮᓕᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᒫᓂ ᑲᓛᓖᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓱᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᑯᑭᑦᑐᒥᐅᓄᒃ ᓄᓇᒥᓂᒃ ᒪᓕᒃᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᓲᒦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ 70-ᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᓕᒫᒥᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᖅᑎᑕᖃᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᒻᒪᕆᐅᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᐅᑯᑎᑦᑐᒥᐅᑕᕐᓂᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᕙᓂ ᐳᕐᓕᓐᒥᑦ ᓯᓚᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᕼᐅᒡ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐱᕈᓇᕐᑦ ᑐᓂᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᑕᕆᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᒥᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᔪᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ 2014-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ imagineNATIVE ᑕᕐᕆᔮᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓕᕆᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᐊᓐᓄᕌᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᕆᓵᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ, ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᑕᖅᑐᐸᓗᒃ (2023-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ), ᐊᐅᓚᔪᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᕐᕆᔮᓕᐊᖑᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ VFX-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ 2021-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᓲᐱ-ᒥᑦ ᓵᓚᒃᓴᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᒧᑦ ᓛᑯᓗᒃ ᕗᓕᐊᒻᓴᓐ ᐸᑐᕆ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᖅᑎᖦᖢᓂᐅᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕇᔮᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᓪᓗᓂᐅᒃ ᐃᓱᒪᑕᕆᔭᐅᖑᐊᖅᒐᖢᓂ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᒥᐅᑕᓂᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑕᖅᑎᐸᓗᒃᒥᑦ.

Founded in 2011, Ánorâk Film is the production company of Kalaallit filmmakers Inuk Silis Høegh and Emile Hertling Péronard. Ánorâk produces work across the spectrum, from television and web to feature-length movies and from documentaries and educational content to more conceptual art films—all with the goal of telling authentic stories in the context of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland).

Their first film, the feature documentary SUMÉ The Sound of a Revolution (2014), told the story of how a 1970s rock band’s political songs set in motion the revival of Kalaaleq culture and identity and paved the way for Greenlandic home rule. SUMÉ travelled to 70 international film festivals, becoming the first ever film from Greenland to show at the Berlin International Film Festival and garnering Høegh and Péronard awards for Emerging Filmmaker and Emerging Talent at the 2014 imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. Ánorâk’s most recent project, Tartupaluk (Prototype) (2023), blends 360 degree live-action video, motion-capture animation, and VFX for an immersive experience in an imagined Inuit utopia in which 2021 Sobey Art Award winner Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory both directs and stars as the president of the fictional land of Tartupaluk.

LEFT & ABOVE

Stills from SUMÉ - The Sound of a Revolution (2014) COURTESY ÁNORÂK FILM

ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ & ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᓱᒥ - ᑐᓴᖅᓴᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᕐᒥᒃ (2014) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ ÁNORÂK FILM

Inuit Art Quarterly

60

Spring 2024

Inuvialuit Communications Society ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ

ABOVE & RIGHT

Stills from Iglaq (2018) COURTESY INUVIALUIT COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY

ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ & ᑕᓕᖅᐱᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ

ᑕᕙᖔᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᓕ ᐃᒡᓚᖅ (2018) ᑐᓂᔭᐅᔪᖅ INUVIALUIT COMMUNICATIONS SOCIETY

ᐃᓄᕕᖕᒥᑦ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᖅ, ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᑦ ᓄᓇᑦᑎᐊᕐᒥᑦ, ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᐅᖏᖦᖢᑎᒃ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1978ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᑎᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᓂᕐᒥᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᑎᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, ᐃᑦᑕᕐᓂᑕᓕᕆᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᒫᓂ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖏᓐᓂᕐᒥᐅᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖑᔪᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᕘᓇ APTN-ᑯᑎᒍᑦ, ᐅᕙᒍᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᓛᕖᓴᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕆᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐅᖃᓕᒫᒑᕐᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᑐᓵᔭᒃᓴᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᖏᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᒥᐅᓂᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᕈᑎᒋᕙᒃᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃᓗ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑕᕐᕆᔭᓕᐅᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᕈᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎᒃᓴᐅᔪᓂᑦ ᐱᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᓯᕆᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᕙᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐆᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐋᒃᑐᐃᓂᕐᒥᒃ. 2010ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᐆᒪᑎᒻᓂᓐ, ᐊᐱᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑎᑦᑎᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᔪᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᖕᒥᐅᓄᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᓯᓚ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᕿᑐᕐᖓᖃᑦᑎᐊᒃᓂᒃᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᐸᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᐱᓕᕆᕙᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᕿᒥᕐᕈᐊᑎᒍᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᖓᓂᑦ 2014-ᒥᑦ2017-ᒧᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᒋᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᖐᖏᑦ ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᑐᓵᔭᒃᓴᑦ ᑕᓚᕕᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᓂᒃ, ᐅᖃᓪᓚᒃᑎᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᔭᓯ ᐸᔅᑲᓪᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᐃᓚ ᕕᕆᕐ. ᓴᖅᑭᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᑦ 2018-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐃᓄᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᓐ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᑦᑎᑐᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᓄᑕᖅᑲᓄᑦ ᑐᕌᖓᓪᓗᓂ, ᑕᐃᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᒡᓚᖅ, ᐊᑐᖃᑦᑕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ, ᐊᐅᓚᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐅᓚᔪᓂᒃ ᑕᓚᕖᓴᒃᑯᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᒃᓴᓂᒃ ᐃᓄᐃᕕᐊᓗᖕᒥᐅᑕᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᕆᔭᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᒃᑭᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᕿᒧᒃᓯᕐᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᐅᑕᑦ ᐱᙳᐊᕈᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐅᑯᐊ ᓴᖅᑭᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑖᒻ ᒪᒃᓚᐅᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᔨᐅᕆ ᑐᕌᓱ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑕᕆᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᐅᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ Google Playᑎᒍᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐃᓄᕕᐊᓗᐃᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᖃᑦᑕᐅᑎᓕᕆᔨᖏᑦ ᑲᑐᔾᔨᖃᑎᒌᖏᑦ ᑐᓴᐅᒪᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ.

Based in Inuvik, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, the Inuvialuit Communications Society (ICS) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1978 with the aim to foster communications and celebrate the voices, people, heritage and culture of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

The organization has produced and broadcast its shows on APTN, Uvagut TV and Inuit TV, and also has a publishing department that produces the cultural magazine Tusaayaksat.

ICS documents local community events and celebrations, as well as filming educational content such as youth leadership and mentorship training and instructional content on traditional skills like animal skinning. In 2010 they produced the TV show Uumatimnin, which used a combination of interviews and archival footage to document the challenges faced by contemporary Inuvialuit, like climate change and maternal care.

Building on the work of their magazine, from 2014–2017 ICS produced Tusaayaksat TV, which was hosted by Jessi Pascal and Shyla Traer. Their 2018 Inuinnaqtun-language children’s program, Iglaq, used art, animation and live-action video to teach Inuvialuit language and cultural topics such as dog sledding and northern games. Produced by Tom Mcleod and Jerri Thrasher, the show was featured on Google Play in addition to ICS’s usual broadcast outlets.

Tarrijaq

61

Film across the North

TRIBUTE

David Poisey

BELOW

David Poisey, Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU, 2022 COURTESY THE ARTIST PHOTO ERIK BOOMER

by Corinne Dunphy

filmmakers who played pivotal roles in bringing film and television to the North. When he began working in the industry, there was an absence of Inuktitut programming on air. Alongside Ann Meekitjuk Hanson, CM, Jonah Kelly (1946–2012), Elisapee Davidee Aningmiuq, Joanasie Salomonie (1938–1998) and Mosha Michael (1948–2009), he formed the Nunatsiakmiut Film Society in 1975.

With the help of the National Film Board, they were allotted a 15-minute slot with CBC once a week for a program entitled Tarqravut. Inuit wanted interviews with Elders, so Poisey and the crew delivered.

From there, Poisey diligently pieced together whatever film work he could find, and he went on to win several awards. In 1991 he co-directed the documentary Starting Fire with Gunpowder

I first heard about David Poisey as a skilled videographer who meticulously captures the subtle details of his surroundings.

There is a profound easiness between him, his subjects and his camera. Years later I discovered he is also an established printmaker. During my time working at the Nunavut Film Development Corporation (NFDC), I grew to know Poisey as both a friend and colleague, as we worked together to provide training workshops for Nunavummiut interested in pursuing a film career.

Poisey learned much of his artistic practices from his father.

He watched his dad draw with pen and pencil, and then he picked it up. He also watched his dad shoot 8mm film, which is how he first became interested in the medium. “I have my father’s blood,” he said to me.1 Film is his main focus, and he is one of the Inuit Inuit Art Quarterly

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with William Hansen, which was part of the series As Long as the Rivers Flow and focused on the history and achievements of the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC). In 2008 Poisey was honoured with the Nunavut Film Television and New Media Industry Recognition Award for Director of Photography.

He continued to build his practice and expertise by working on more IBC projects. “David made the decision to become a freelance videographer when such work didn’t exist in Nunavut. No one else was doing it. That is quite remarkable,” Huw Eirug, CEO of the NFDC, recalled. 2 In addition to being an accomplished videographer and printmaker, Poisey is a role model and mentor for Nunavummiut looking to enter the film industry. He has run several workshops, including one in 2017, where he taught youth in Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU, about pinhole cameras and related them to exploring climate change. “I truly think he is a legend. I admire him so much,” says Eirug. Some of Poisey’s mentees in recent years include Simeonie Kisa-Knickelbein and Ashley Qilavaq-Savard. Eirug has also worked with Poisey in this vein. Eirug and Poisey first met in 2010 while filming the Nunavut Quest, a dog-sledding race. Poisey was a seasoned filmmaker with experience shooting in arctic conditions and quickly took Eirug, a Welsh cameraman, under his wing. Since then they have remained colleagues and friends, and Poisey continued to play a crucial role in running workshops for Nunavummiut.

Now 70 years old, Poisey still consistently secures work across Nunavut, continually learning and picking up new skills, unfazed by the ever-changing technology.

In 2012 he recorded sound for the documentary Vanishing Point, directed by Stephen A. Smith and Julia Szucs, adapting to the changing practices. He told me about his current personal project featuring the people of Cumberland Sound, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, and happily rhymed off his new film gear, a 4K camera and a gimbal—allowing for steady shots and the flexibility to zoom in for postproduction— making life much easier when filming alongside the hunters in this project.

Whether telling the heartbreaking personal story of his home community’s demolition by the government in the Hunting with My Ancestors episode “Kivitoo: What They Thought of Us” (2018) or depicting everyday Inuit activities in prints such as Majjaturq (Cleaning a Sealskin) (2018), Poisey’s works serve as poignant reminders of the human condition. They reflect what shapes us, connects us and even divides us. His work is inspiring, his commitment is unwavering and his generous spirit to always prioritize the future of Nunavut’s arts community makes him, as Cheryl Ashton, former training coordinator at the NFDC, put it beautifully, “Nunavut’s unsung hero.”3

NOTES

— Corinne Dunphy is a documentary filmmaker and graduate of NSCAD University (BFA major in Photography) and Toronto Metropolitan University (MFA in Documentary Media). She served as Projects Manager at Nunavut Film Development Corporation from 2019–2023. She uses stories to engage, educate and help foster social change.

Tarrijaq

ABOVE (TOP)

ABOVE (BOTTOM)

David Poisey — Majjaturq (Cleaning a Sealskin) 2018 Printmaker Annie Naulalik Qappik Stencil 51 × 41 cm

David Poisey and William Hansen — Starting Fire with Gunpowder (still) 1991 Documentary film 56 min 56 sec

COURTESY DAVIC GALLERY © THE ARTIST

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COURTESY TAMARACK PRODUCTIONS

Quote from David Poisey, interview with Corinne Dunphy, December 2023.

2 All quotes from Huw Eirug, interview with Corinne Dunphy, December 2023.

3 Quote from Cheryl Ashton, interview with Corinne Dunphy, December 2023.

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Jean Claude acquiring art from Lamech Kadloo. Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Sept. 2023

Specializing in Inuit Art since 1963

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Laina Geetah, Untitled, 56.5 x 76.6 cm (detail)

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NEWS

Updates and highlights from the world of Inuit art and culture

LEFT

RIGHT (TOP)

Kenojuak Ashevak — Pyramid of Owls 2003–04 Coloured pencil and graphite 66 × 101.6 cm

Joselyn Piirainen, Reneltta Arluk and Ooleepeeka Eegeesiak

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL © THE ARTIST

COURTESY THE ARTISTS

RIGHT (BOTTOM)

Saimaiyu Akesuk at Kinngait Studios, 2023 COURTESY CANADA GOOSE

Kablusiak Wins 2023 Sobey Art Award

Notable Inuit Artwork Sales at First Arts and Waddington’s Auctions On December 4, 2023, First Arts held its fall auction of Inuit & First Nations Art. A big highlight was Joe Talirunili’s (1906– 1976) sculpture Migration Boat with Owls and Dog (c. 1966–67) which sold for $408,000—tying the record for the highest amount an Inuit sculpture has sold for at auction. A number of lots saw high prices, including Kenojuak Ashevak’s, CC, ONu, RCA (1927–2013), drawing Pyramid of Owls (c. 2003–04) which sold for $20,400, nearly doubling its estimate.

Waddington’s Inuit and First Nations Art auction, which ran from November 25–30, similarly saw some high numbers.

Henry Evaluardjuk’s (1923–2007) sculpture Striding Caribou (1978) went well over asking and Drum Dance (c. 1974), a whale bone and antler piece by Karoo Ashevak (1940–1974), sold for $34,350.

Inuit Art Quarterly

Last November Calgary, AB-based Inuvialuk artist Kablusiak was named the winner of the coveted Sobey Art Award. Known for their tongue-in-cheek work that reflects on topics like contemporary Indigeneity, cultural displacement and mental health, Kablusiak compelled the jury with their “fearless and unapologetic practice that confounds old categories and art histories and points to new imaginaries,” said Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director of Curatorial Initiatives at the National Gallery of Canada and Chair of the jury.

Known as Canada’s preeminent award for contemporary visual arts with a grand prize of $100,000, the Sobey Art Award recognizes exceptional Canadian artists who are at a critical juncture in their careers. Previously shortlisted for the award in 2019, Kablusiak is the first Inuvialuk artist to win the award and the third Inuk, following Kalaaleq artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory in 2021 and Annie Pootoogook (1969–2016) in 2006.

Curatorial Changes at the Art Gallery of Ontario Taqralik Partridge has left her position as Associate Curator of Indigenous Art – Inuit Art Focus at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto, which she began in November 2022. Her departure raises increasing concerns about the future of the AGO’s Department of Indigenous and Canadian Art following the departure of Wanda Nanibush, the gallery’s inaugural curator of Indigenous Art. However, Partridge’s independent career as an artist and curator has already been busy in 2024: she opened her first solo exhibition at Onsite Gallery in Toronto, ON, and curated a show of work

by Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, artist Tim Pitsiulak (1967–2016) at the Art Gallery of Guelph in January.

Emily Laurent Henderson, a curator of Greenlandic Inuit and settler heritage, also left the AGO in the fall of 2023 to pursue a new role as Associate Curator: Indigenous Art and Culture at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, ON. 66

National Gallery of Canada Makes History with Three Inuit in Curatorial Department The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) in Ottawa, ON, made history in 2023 when their number of Inuit employees increased to three, which is unprecedented among galleries in southern Canada. Inuk curator Jocelyn Piirainen joined the gallery in November 2022 as Associate Curator of Indigenous Ways and Decolonization (IWD), coming from the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, where she served as their inaugural Assistant Curator of Inuit Art. Inuit Art Foundation Board Member Reneltta Arluk, who is Inuvialuk, Dene and Cree, holds the role of Senior Manager, Policy, Protocols and Strategic Initiatives for IWD, bringing with her years of leadership and Indigenous relationship-building experience working previously at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Ooleepeeka Eegeesiak, an Inuk/Qallunaaq writer and emerging curator, joined IWD as a Curatorial Assistant after working previously at the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery in Alberta.

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LAST LOOK

Familial Legacies on Screen The evolving critical re-evaluation of Nanook of the North (1922) is complex and nuanced, much like any historical engagement between Inuit and non-Inuit. The ongoing discussion of the film’s legacy as a documentary has largely been driven by Inuit asserting sovereignty over how we are presented and perceived in art and media. The shift from Inuit as subjects of the colonial gaze to active storytellers is especially visible in these two images of the late Allakariallak, who portrayed Nanook in the 1922 film and is ataatsiangata sauninga (late grandfather’s namesake) to Madeleine Allakariallak, throat singer, songwriter, performer and former CBC North and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) news host. The fact that Madeleine became a news host who reported on current issues from an Inuit perspective represents both the influence our ancestors have on our modern lives and the changes in Inuit-centred media over the last century.

It is also important to note that Nanook of the North has had a tremendous impact, and in the North is a subject of both valid criticism and pride as a valuable archival reference to the lives of our ancestors during a period where photographic and

video material was sparse. In this film still of Allakariallak, he is posing as Nanook using older Inuit hunting gear rather than his preferred weapon—a gun—because filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty wanted to give his audience a more “authentic” look at Inuit life. While Allakariallak was denied the agency to represent his own life in the so-called documentary, Madeleine has worked as both a musician sharing traditional throat singing and as an award-winning news reporter for the APTN and host of CBC North’s Igalaaq, a daily news program broadcast entirely in Inuktitut. Her career exemplifies the success Inuit have had in reclaiming agency in telling our own stories with real authenticity since the film’s release.

Madeleine has carried on a family legacy of representing Inuit to a wider global audience, both creatively and through real-time news and event reporting for Inuit and northern residents across the Arctic. Madeleine, like her ataatsiangata sauninga, has been an important presence in Inuit life as a news correspondent who often reported and hosted TV programs in Inuktitut, her first language, allowing for

representation of Inuit through storytelling from knowledge keepers and the new generation of movers and shakers, in times when Inuit in media were few and far between.

I reflect on my own memories of watching footage from Nanook of the North as a child and feeling delighted to see Inuit on film and have elements of our old ways being made available to me, aspiring to someday be as tough and skilled as the folks shown in the film. There is a kind of warmth and happiness to be found in seeing yourself represented in art and media that those who have always seen themselves in books and movies may take for granted. As we have seen from the incredible number of Inuit artists, performers and creators in this issue who are taking the reins and showing not only the world but our own people that we can be successful and talented professional artists, film and self-representation is a powerful tool in creating a better future for younger generations.

NAPATSI FOLGER

Tauttunnguaqti

LEFT

Allakariallak as the title character in Nanook of the North (1922) ABOVE

Madeleine Allakariallak reporting for CBC North, Iqaluit, NU, 2018 PHOTO TOM KANE

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Luke Parnell

A North American Art Collection amplifying diverse voices and creating conversations.

Image Credit: Luke Parnell (Haida/Nisga’a), Remediation, Archival inkjet print, Edition of 5, 2022, 21 x 31”.

Photo Byron Dauncey. Courtesy of Macaulay & Co. Fine Art. TD Corporate Art Collection.

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